c*- 


LIBRARY 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

GIFT    OK 

Received    OCT  27  1892      ,  189    . 
t  Ucessions  No.  V\  ifM  -3  It      5//^  No. 


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The  New  View  of  Hell. 


THE 


New  View  of  Hell. 


ITS   NATURE,  WHEREABOUTS,  DURATION,   AND 
HOW   TO   ESCAPE   IT. 


BY 

B.    F.    BARRETT, 
%\ 

Author  of  "Lectures  on  the  New  Dispensation,"  "The  Golden  City,* 
44  Letters  to  Bbecher  on  the  Divine  Trinity,"  Etc  .  Etc 


i°nti\  $* 


diiion. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

CLAXTON,  REMSEN  &  HAFFELFINGER. 

1878. 


^3 


**\ 


*(> 


Entered  according  to  Act  jf  Congress,  in  the  year  18*\,  by 

J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT    A    CO., 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGB 

I. — The  New  Dispensation 9 

II. — The  Old  Doctrine  of  Hell 26 

III.— The  New  View 36 

IV.— The  Scripture  Argument. — Sheol,  Hades, 

Gehenna,  and  the  Lake  of  Fire....  46 
V.— Hell.— The  Chosen    Home   of   All   Who 

go  There. 73 

VI. — The  Duration  of   Hell 87 

VII.— Some  Evidence  of  its  Duration.— Philo- 
sophical and  Scriptural 100 

VIII. — Why  Cannot  the  Ruling  Love  be  Changed 

After  Death  ? 112 

IX. — Displays  of  the  Divine  Benignity  in  Hell  125 
X. — Is  Hell  to  Undergo  any  Change  ?     If  so, 

of  what  Nature  ? 145 

XI. — The  Devil  and  Satan 163 

XII.— Practical  Bearings  of  the  Question....  177 

XIII. — How  to  Escape   Hell 193 

5 


74f  &  THK        -^ 


^IPOI 


PREFACE. 


There  are  few  subjects  within  the  compass  of  revealed  or 
speculative  Theology,  upon  which  inquiring  minds  have  been 
more  exercised  within  the  last  hundred  years,  than  the  sub- 
ject of  Hell.  And  there  are  few,  perhaps,  which  have  been 
the  occasion  of  more  strifes  and  divisions  in  the  churches, 
which  have  caused  more  trouble  to  Christian  believers,  or 
upon  which  there  are  at  this  moment  more  anxiety,  doubt 
and  disagreement  among  religious  teachers  themselves. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  popular  mind  of  Christendom 
has  undergone  a  considerable  change  on  this,  as  on  many 
other  subjects,  since  the  commencement  of  the  present  cen- 
tury. The  old  representations  of  the  Divine  justice,  and  of 
the  condition  of  the  wicked  in  the  great  Hereafter,  would 
hardly  be  listened  to  with  patience — certainly  not  with  satis- 
faction— by  any  intelligent  Christian  congregation  of  to-day. 

"The  idea  which  men  once  had  of  hell  and  of  divine  jus- 
tice," says  the  occupant  of  a  distinguished  orthodox  pulpit, 
"was  a  nightmare  as  hideous  as  was  ever  begotten  by  the 
hellish  brood  itself.  And  it  was  an  atrocious  slander  on 
God.     I  do  not  wonder  that  men  have  reacted  from  these 

horrors — I  honor  them  for  it." 

7 


8  PREFACE. 

But  what  have  the  Christian  teachers  of  to-day  to  offer  as 
a  substitute  for  the  old  idea,  which  is  confessedly  becoming 
obsolete  in  nearly  all  of  the  churches?  Many  of  them, 
nothing — literally  nothing,  that  can  at  once  satisfy  the  reason 
of  thoughtful  inquirers,  and  meet  the  demands  of  the  lan- 
guage of  Scripture.  And  some  are  frank  enough  to  confess 
their  destitution.  Said  a  distinguished  Presbyterian  clergy- 
man, writing  on  this  subject  some  time  ago  :  M  It  is  all  dark, 
dark,  dark,  to  my  soul ;  and  I  cannot  disguise  it." 

The  aim  of  the  present  work  is  to  unfold  and  present  the 
New  view  of  Hell,  as  set  forth  in  the  theological  writings  of 
Emanuel  Swedenborg  ;  to  show  that  it  is  at  once  rational 
and  Scriptural,  in  harmony  with  the  perfect  love  and  wisdom 
of  God,  as  well  as  with  the  teachings  of  human  experience 
and  the  profoundest  spiritual  philosophy ;  and  that  its  prac- 
tical influence  upon  the  character  of  believers,  cannot  be 
otherwise  than  beneficent. 

How  far  I  have  succeeded  in  this,  the  reader  himself  must 
judge.  But  if  I  have  achieved  even  a  partial  success,  and 
presented  the  subject  in  a  light  to  relieve  and  profit  only  a 
few  troubled  souls,  I  shall  be  more  than  satisfied — I  shall  be 
thankful. 

B.  F.  B. 

Ghrmantown,  Jan.  14,  1878. 


[TJKIVBR5ITY] 


THE 

New  View  of  Hell. 


i. 

THE  NEW  DISPENSATION. 

THE  theological  writings  of  Emanuel  Swedenborg  are 
regarded  by  many — by  all,  indeed,  who  have  read 
and  studied  them  with  care — as  a  new  revelation.  They 
boldly  claim  for  themselves  this  distinction,  and  chal- 
lenge a  candid  examination  of  their  claim  in  the  light 
of  Scripture,  reason,  philosophy,  history,  and  all  human 
experience.  They  are  held  to  be  (and  this,  too,  is  their 
own  claim)  a  new  Dispensation  of  spiritual  truth :  that 
Dispensation  referred  to  in  the  Apocalypse  under  the 
symbol  of  the  New  Jerusalem  which  John  saw  coming 
down  from  God  out  of  heaven.  They  are  believed  to 
contain,  not  merely  the  reasonings  and  conclusions  of  a 
great  and  pious  mind — not  a  theological  or  doctrinal 
system  wrought  out  by  patient  labor  and  hard  study,  but 
a  system  of  spiritual  truth  so  luminous  in  its  nature  and 
so  grand  in  its  proportions,  as  to  be  itself  the  fulfillment 
of  the  prophecy  concerning  the  second  coming  of  Him 

9 


IO  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

who  i'6  "  the  Light  of  the  world."  They  are  declared  to 
be  a  revelation  of  new  and  heavenly  truth  made  by  the 
Lord  himself  through  his  own  chosen  servant,  whom  He 
raised  up  and  prepared  for  this  work,  and  in  due  time 
graciously  and  wonderfully  illumined  by  his  Spirit. 

The  stupendous  system  of  truth,  therefore,  contained 
in  the  writings  of  this  man,  is  not  to  be  considered  his, 
but  the  Lord's.  He  was  but  the  chosen  instrument  to 
receive  and  make  known  to  men,  truths  which  no  amount 
of  labor  or  study  could  ever  have  enabled  him  to  dis- 
cover.    Hear  what  the  seer  himself  says  on  this  subject : 

"  Since  the  Lord  cannot  manifest  Himself  in  Person, 
and  nevertheless  has  foretold  that  He  would  come  and 
establish  a  New  Church  which  is  the  New  Jerusalem,  it 
follows  that  He  will  do  so  by  means  of  a  man  who 
can  not  only  receive  these  doctrines  in  his  understanding 
but  can  also  publish  them  by  the  press. 

"That  the  Lord  manifested  Himself  before  me  his 
servant,  and  sent  me  to  this  office,  that  He  afterward 
opened  the  eyes  of  my  spirit  and  so  intromitted  me  into 
the  spiritual  world,  granted  me  to  see  the  heavens  and 
the  hells,  also  to  converse  with  angels  and  spirits,  and 
this  continuously  now  for  several  years,  I  affirm  in  truth  ; 
as  also,  that,  from  the  first  day  of  that  calling  I  have  not 
received  anything  whatever  pertaining  to  the  doctrines 
of  that  Church  from  any  angel,  but  from  the  Lord  alone 
While  I  read  the  Word."  (True  Christian  Religion,  779.) 

And    elsewhere   in   his  writings  he  repeats  the   same 


THE  NEW  DISPENSATION.  II 

statement — in, substance  if  not  in  words.  Thus  in  his 
preface  to  the  Apocalypse  Revealed,  he  says : 

*  Any  one  may  see  that  the  Apocalypse  could  no  how 
be  explained  but  by  the  Lord  alone,  since  every  word 
of  it  contains  arcana  which  never  could  be  known  with- 
out some  special  illumination  and  consequent  revelation. 
Wherefore  it  has  pleased  the  Lord  to  open  the  sight  of 
my  spirit  and  to  teach  me.  It  must  not,  therefore,  be 
supposed  that  I  have  given  any  explication  of  my  own, 
nor  that  even  of  any  angel,  but  only  what  I  have  had 
communicated  to  me  from  the  Lord  alone.' ' 

And  in  his  treatise  on  "The  Intercourse  between  the 
Soul  and  the  Body,"  he  relates  a  conversation  that  he 
once  had  with  "a  man  of  reason,"  explaining  to  him 
how  it  was  that  from  a  philosopher  he  became  a  theolo- 
gian. After  telling  him  that  it  was  "  for  the  san^  reason 
that  fishermen  became  the  disciples  and  apostles  of  the 
Lord,"  adding  that  he  also  "  from  early  youth  had  been 
a  spiritual  fisherman;"  and  after  explaining  what  this 
means,  and  confirming  what  he  says  by  citing  passages 
from  the  Word  which  speak  of  fishermen,  unfolding  at 
the  same  time  their  spiritual  meaning,  his  interrogator 
"  raised  his  voice  and  said  : 

"'Now  I  can  understand  why  the  Lord  called  and 
chose  fishermen  to  be  his  disciples ;  and  therefore  I  do 
not  wonder  that  He  has  also  called  and  chosen  you, 
since,  as  you  have  observed,  you  were  from  early  youth 
a  fisherman  in  a  spiritual  sense,  that  is,  an  investigator 


12  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

of  natural  truths.  The  reason  that  you  are  now  become 
an  investigator  of  spiritual  truths,  is,  that  these  are 
founded  on  the  former. '  To  this  he  added,  being  a  man 
of  reason,  that  'the  Lord  alone  knows  who  is  the 
proper  person  to  apprehend  and  teach  or  communicate 
the  truths  which  should  be  revealed  for  his  New 
Church.'  " — Ibid.  20. 

Swedenborg  further  claims  that  this  new  revelation 
made  through  him  as  a  chosen  medium,  is  in  fulfillment 
of  the  prediction  made  by  the  Lord  himself,  concerning 
his  second  coming,  which  was  to  be  in  the  clouds  of 
heaven.  This  coming,  he  says,  is  not  to  be  external  and 
natural,  cognizable  by  the  eye  of  sense;  but  internal  and 
spiritual,  cognizable  by  the  understanding  and  the  heart. 
It  is  to  be  a  coming  of  the  Word  of  God,  that  is,  of  the 
deeper  meanings  of  the  Word — a  coming  of  its  spiritual 
or  heavenly  sense  to  the  minds  and  hearts  of  men,  and 
exerting  upon  them  a  new  and  renovating  power.  And 
the  clouds  in  or  upon  which  it  is  said  He  would  come, 
are  the  clouds  of  Scripture — the  obscurities,  more  or  less 
dense,  of  the  literal  sense,  in  or  upon  which  the  spiritual 
and  true  sense  comes  as  the  sun's  light  through  a  cloud. 
To  cite  again  his  own  language : 

"  It  is  the  prevailing  opinion  at  this  day  [1770]  in 
every  church,  that  the  Lord,  when  He  comes  to  the  last 
judgment,  will  appear  in  the  clouds  of  heaven  with 
angels  and  the  sound  of  trumpets;  that  He  will  gather 
together  all  who  are  then  dwelling  on  the  earth,  as  well 


THE  NEW  DISPENSATION.  1 3 

as  all  who  are  deceased,  and  will  separate  the  evil  from 
the  good,  as  a  shepherd  separates  the  goats  from  the 
sheep ;  that  then  He  will  cast  the  evil,  or  the  goats,  into 
hell,  and  raise  up  the  good,  or  the  sheep,  into  heaven; 
and  further  that  He  will,  at  the  same  time,  create  a  new 
visible  heaven  and  a  new  habitable  earth,  and  on  the  latter 
He  will  cause  a  city  to  descend,  which  is  to  be  called  the 
New  Jerusalem,  and  is  to  be  built  according  to  the  de- 
scription given  in  the  Revelation  (Ch.  xxi.)  of  jasper 
and  gold  ;  and  the  foundation  of  its  walls  of  every  precious 
stone ;  and  its  height,  breadth  and  length  to  be  equal, 
each  twelve  thousand  furlongs ;  and  that  all  the  elect  are 
to  be  gathered  together  into  this  city,  both  those  that  are 
then  alive,  and  those  that  have  died  since  the  beginning 
of  the  world ;  and  that  the  latter  will  then  return  into 
their  bodies,  and  enjoy  everlasting  bliss  in  that  magnifi- 
cent city,  as  in  their  heaven.  This  is  the  prevailing 
opinion  of  the  present  day,  in  all  Christian  churches, 
respecting  the  coming  of  the  Lord  and  the  last  judg- 
ment.' ' — True  Christian  Religion,  n.  768. 

And  a  little  further  on  he  says : 

"That  the  second  coming  of  the  Lord,  is  a  coming,  not 
in  person,  but  in  the  Word  which  is  from  Him,  and  is 
Himself — It  is  written  in  many  places  that  the  Lord  will 
come  in  the  clouds  of  heaven ;  as  Matt.  xvii.  5 ;  xxiv. 
30;  xxvi.  64;  Mark  xiv.  62;  Luke  ix.  34,  35;  xxi.  27; 
Rev.  i.  7;  xiv.  14;  Dan.  vii.  T3;  but  no  one  has  here- 
tofore known  what  is  meant  by  the  clouds  of  heaven, 
2 


14  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

and  hence  mankind  have  believed  that  the  Lord  will 
appear  to  them  in  person.  But  it  has  remained  undis- 
covered to  this  day,  that  the  Word  in  its  literal  sense  is 
meant  by  the  clouds  of  heaven  ;  and  that  the  spiritual 
sense  of  the  Word  is  meant  by  the  power  and  glory 
in  which  also  the  Lord  is  to  come.  .  .  .  Now  since  the 
spiritual  sense  of  the  Word  has  been  opened  to  me 
by  the  Lord,  and  it  has  been  granted  me  to  be  with 
angels  and  spirits  in  their  world  as  one  of  themselves, 
it  has  been  revealed  to  me  that  the  clouds  of  heaven  sig- 
nify the  Word  in  its  natural  sense;  and  glory,  the  Word 
in  its  spiritual  sense ;  and  power,  the  effectual  operation 
of  the  Lord  by  the  Word."— Ibid.,  n.  776. 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  then,  about  Swedenborg's 
claim — extraordinary  though  it  be,  and  incredible  as  it 
may  seem  to  those  who  have  not  examined  his  writings. 
He  claims  to  have  been  called  of  the  Lord  in  an  extra- 
ordinary manner,  and  to  have  been  specially  illumined 
by  his  Spirit,  to  make  a  new  revelation ;— a  revelation, 
that  is,  of  new  and  heavenly  truth  concerning  Himself, 
his  Word,  the  nature  of  heaven  and  hell,  and  the  con- 
dition of  different  classes  of  men  in  the  great  Hereafter. 
He  declares  that  it  is  the  Lord  who  opened  the  eyes  of 
his  spirit ;  that  it  is  the  Lord  who  taught  him  the  true 
meaning  of  the  Word,  and  what  doctrines  to  promul- 
gate ;  that  the  Lord  had  actually  come  (agreeably  to  his 
promise),  to  establish  a  New  Church  by  means  of  the 
doctrines  which  it  was  given  him  to  receive,  understand 


THE   NEW  DISPENSATION.  1 5 

and  publish  tothe  world  ;  that  these  doctrines  were  not 
his  own — not  the  result  of  any  labor  or  study  on  his 
part,  nor  received  from  any  angel,  but  communicated  to 
him  by  the  Lord  alone.  "From  the  first  day  of  that 
calling,"  he  says,  "I  have  not  received  anything  what- 
ever pertaining  to  the  doctrines  of  the  New  Church  from 
any  angel,  but  from  the  Lord  alone  while  I  read  the 
Word." 

It  is  not  my  purpose  here  to  enter  upon  any  discussion 
of  this  claim,  or  to  adduce  evidence  to  show  that  it  is 
well  founded.  The  need  there  was  of  a  new  revelation 
at  the  time  Swedenborg  lived  and  wrote,  as  shown  by 
the  doctrinal  beliefs  and  teachings  in  all  the  churches  of 
his  day;  the  luminous  and  extraordinary  character  of  his 
theological  writings;  the  sweet  and  heavenly  and  catholic 
spirit  that  they  breathe  throughout;  the  elevated  and  ra- 
tional views  they  contain  on  all  subjects — views  that  har- 
monize with  the  teachings  of  Scripture  and  reason  and 
science,  and  with  all  we  know  of  the  laws  of  the  human 
soul  and  the  ways  and  workings  of  God's  providence ; — 
all  these  combine  to  force  an  acknowledgment  of  his 
claim  from  every  intelligent  and  candid  mind  who  thor- 
oughly examines  and  understands  his  writings.  Such 
an  one  admits  his  claim  because  he  cannot  help  it.  He 
finds  the  evidence  so  overwhelming,  that  it  is  easier  to 
accept  than  to  reject  it.  He  sees  that  here  is,  indeed,  a 
new  revelation ;  that  here  is  a  system  of  spiritual  truth  so 
grand  and  harmonious  and  rational,  so  comprehensive 


1 6  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

majestic,  and  so  admirably  adapted  to  human  wants 
in  this  age,  that  it  could  have  none  other  than  God  him- 
self for  its  author.  He  accepts  Swedenborg's  teachings, 
therefore,  as  a  new  Dispensation  of  spiritual  truth,  bear- 
ing the  impress  of  God's  own  finger.  So  abundant  and 
overmastering  is  the  evidence,  that  he  cannot  do  other- 
wise ;  he  cannot  reach  any  other  conclusion. 

But  those  cannot  admit  his  claim,  who  have  not  studied 
his  writings.  How  can  they  ? — for  they  have  not  weighed 
the  evidence ;  they  have  not  seen  it,  indeed.  And  no- 
where but  in  his  writings  themselves,  can  satisfactory  evi- 
dence of  his  claim  be  found.  They  may,  from  having  read 
a  few  pages  or  chapters  of  his  works,  admit  that  he  saw 
and  taught  much  truth  ;  but  we  cannot  expect  them  to  go 
beyond  this — nor  ought  they — until  they  have  studied 
his  writings  sufficiently  to  enable  them  to  discern,  in  some 
measure,  their  wondrous  depth  and  comprehensiveness 
and  philosophy  and  unity.  Such  persons,  (and  they  are 
not  a  few)  stand  toward  this  New  Christian  Dispensation 
in  the  same  attitude  as  those  stand  toward  the  first  Chris- 
tian dispensation,  who  admit  that  Jesus  Christ  was  a  wise 
and  excellent  man,  and  that  much  truth  is  to  be  found  in 
the  New  Testament ;  but  who  do  not  admit  the  proper 
divinity  of  the  one,  nor  the  inspiration  of  the  other ; 
who  regard  the  Saviour  as  a  merely  finite  and  human 
being,  and  the  writings  of  the  Evangelists  as  merely 
human  compositions.  And  while  some  of  these  persons 
may  have  more  of  the  spirit  of  Christ  than  manj  who 


THE  NEW  DISPENSATION,  1 7 

know  and  belieye  more  of  Him  and  his  gospel,  still  they 
would  not  be  regarded,  popularly  or  doctrinally  speak- 
ing, as  Christians ;  for  they  do  not  acknowledge  Chris- 
tianity as  a  new  Dispensation,  or  in  any  proper  sense  as 
a  new  Revelation. 

So,  popularly  speaking,  those  are  not  of  the  New 
Christian  Dispensation  (they  may  belong  to  it  really 
but  not  nominally)  who  do  not  see  or  acknowledge  that 
any  such  dispensation  has  commenced,  or  that  the 
writings  of  Swedenborg  are,  indeed,  a  new  and  divindy 
authorized  revelation  of  heavenly  truth — though  they 
may  have  in  their  hearts  more  of  the  spirit  and  life 
of  the  New  Church  than  some  who  accept  its  doc- 
trines. 

But  many  persons — and  these  inhabiting  the  most  en- 
lightened portions  of  Christendom — are  beginning  to 
admit  that  Swedenborg's  claim  is  well  founded.  They 
believe  that  he  wrote  under  a  special  divine  illumination, 
and  that  his  writings  are  or  contain  a  new  revelation. 
And  what  is  implied  by  this  admission  ?  That  no  mis- 
take, however  trivial,  is  anywhere  to  be  found  in  his  writ- 
ings ?  That  in  every  sentence  and  word  he  penned  after 
his  illumination,  he  was  immediately  directed  by  the 
Lord?  That  every  word  he  wrote  is  as  certainly  true  as  if 
it  had  been  written  by  the  finger  of  God  himself?  Noth- 
ing of  this  sort  is  involved  in  the  fullest  and  most  cordial 
admission  of  his  claim.  We  may  admit  his  divine  illumin- 
ation; we  may  believe  that  he  wg^giigtt^jed  and  taught 
2  * 


1 8  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

of  God  as  no  other  man  ever  was ;  and  that  his  writings  are, 
as  they  claim  to  be,  a  new  and  divinely  authorized  reve- 
lation ;  and  yet  we  may  believe  that  his  illumination 
was  not  precisely  the  same  at  all  times ;  that  he  was  not 
absolutely  infallible ;  that  his  pen,  and  even  his  thought 
on  some  minor  points,  might  momentarily  have  slipped, 
making  him  teach  or  seem  to  teach  in  one  place,  some- 
thing contrary  to  his  general  teaching  upon  the  same 
subject. 

But  an  admission  of  this  man's  claim,  or  the  belief 
that  his  writings  are  a  new  dispensation  of  spiritual  truth 
to  men,  does  involve  the  belief,  that,  upon  all  important 
doctrines — upon  all  questions  which  have  hitherto  en- 
gaged the  attention  of  Christians,  and  in  which  they  are 
likely  always  to  feel  a  deep  interest — he  has  spoken  with 
authority,  because  he  wrote  under  an  extraordinary  divine 
illumination.  It  involves  the  admission  that,  in  what  he 
wrote  and  published  concerning  the  Lord,  the  Sacred 
Scripture,  Redemption,  Regeneration,  Salvation,  the 
Resurrection,  the  Judgment,  the  nature  and  duration  of 
Heaven  and  Hell,  and  all  the  great  facts  and  laws  of  the 
spiritual  world,  he  has  not  given  us  his  opinion  merely, 
but  the  truth  which  God  was  pleased  to  reveal  through 
him.  It  involves  the  belief  that,  upon  such  momentous 
themes  he  was  illumined  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  has 
taught  only  what  the  Lord  authorized  and  directed  him 
to  teach.  So  that  what  his  writings  contain  on  such 
subjects,  is  not  his  own  opinions  or  conclusions  merely, 


THE  NEW  DISPENSATION.  19 

but  is  what  the  Lord  himself  teaches  or  is  trying  to  teach 
mankind  through  him. 

Let  me  endeavor  to  make  my  view  more  clear  by  an 
illustration  : — 

A  man  is  duly  accredited  by  our  government  to  the 
court  of  St.  James.  Upon  all  important  matters  between 
the  two  countries,  he  receives  his  instruction  from  Wash- 
ington. And  if  he  acts  according  to  his  instruction, 
the  things  he  does  as  the  authorized  agent  of  the  govern- 
ment, are  not  to  be  regarded  merely  as  his  acts,  but  the 
acts  of  the  government;  and  the  government  alone  is 
responsible  for  them.  But  in  carrying  on  some  negotia- 
tion, Mr.  Adams  or  Mr.  Motley,  in  the  exercise  of  the 
freedom  and  discretion  of  a  plenipotentiary,  may  here 
and  there  drop  a  word  or  use  an  expression  which  his 
government  might  not  approve ;  but  that  is  of  small  con- 
sequence if  it  does  not  prevent  nor  in  any  way  interfere 
with  the  negotiation.  He  may  not,  in  every  interview 
with  the  British  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  or  at  every 
court  dinner,  do  and  say  exactly  the  thing  that  the  gov- 
ernment from  which  he  is  accredited  would  approve ; 
but  if  he  carries  out  his  instructions  generally,  does  his 
duty  faithfully,  and  so  accomplishes  the  purpose  of  his 
mission,  is  he  any  the  less  the  accredited  American  min- 
ister, or  his  acts  any  the  less  cheerfully  endorsed  by  his 
government  because  of  an  occasional  and  unimportant 
remark  made  by  him,  which  the  authorities  at  Wash- 
ington might  not  approve? 


30  NEW  VIE IV  OF  HELL. 

So  Swedenborg — though  it  might  be  shown  that  he  has 
here  and  there  said  things,  unimportant  in  themselves  but 
not  in  agreement  with  the  general  tenor  of  his  teaching 
— is  to  be  regarded  as  none  the  less  a  divinely  accredited 
teacher  or  a  divinely  authorized  expounder  of  sacred 
mysteries,  if  his  teaching  upon  all  important  and  funda- 
mental points  be  true,  or  such  as  meets  the  approval  of 
heaven's  own  King. 

But  though  it  is,  or  claims  to  be,  a  New  Dispensation, 
it  is  a  dispensation  of  rational  religious  truth.  It  ad- 
dresses us  as  rational  beings,  endowed  with  the  capacity 
of  discriminating  between  right  and  wrong — truth  and 
falsehood.  It  declares  that  Rationality,  or  the  ability  to 
understand  spiritual  truth  when  presented,  and  to  judge 
between  it  and  error,  is  one  of  the  noblest  gifts  of  God. 
And  it  holds  it  to  be  every  one's  solemn  duty  to  respect 
this  gift,  by  faithfully  exercising  his  own  understanding 
upon  whatever  is  offered  him  for  religious  truth.  It 
teaches  that  no  one  ought  to  accept  what  his  own  under- 
standing rejects,  even  though  it  should  be  proclaimed  by 
a  messenger  from  heaven,  or  have  the  unanimous  vote  of 
all  Christendom  in  its  support. 

No  one,  therefore,  is  expected  to  receive  for  truth  what 
Swedenborg  has  taught  on  any  subject,  unless  the  teach- 
ing approve  itself  to  his  rational  intuitions ;  that  is,  un- 
less he  himself  sees  it  to  be  true.  Each  one  must  use 
his  own  eyes,  and  not  allow  another  to  see  for  him.  The 
great  seer  himself  says  : 


THE   NEW  DISPENSATION.  21 

"This  tenet,  that  the  understanding  is  to  be  kept  in 
subjection  to  faith,  is  rejected  in  the  New  Church ;  and 
in  its  place,  this  is  to  be  received  as  a  maxim,  that  the 
truth  of  the  church  should  be  seen  in  order  that  it  may 
be  believed.  .  .  .  What  is  truth  not  seen,  but  a  voice 
not  understood ?"  And  again  he  says:  "The  angels 
have  wisdom  in  consequence  of  seeing  truths.  Where- 
fore when  it  is  said  to  any  angel  that  this  or  that  is  to  be 
believed  although  it  is  not  understood,  the  angel  replies, 
Do  you  suppose  me  to  be  insane,  or  that  you  yourself 
are  a  god  whom  I  am  bound  to  believe  ?" 

This  Dispensation,  moreover,  is  catholic,  comprehen- 
sive, universal,  in  its  spirit.  It  breathes  throughout  the 
sweetest  charity.  It  inculcates  the  largest  liberty  of 
thought.  It  encourages  the  utmost  freedom  of  religious 
inquiry.  It  asserts  with  new  and  increased  emphasis  the 
great  Protestant  principle — the  right  of  private  judgment 
in  matters  of  faith,  however  that  judgment  may  differ 
from  the  solemn  decree  of  popes,  prelates,  councils, 
synods,  assemblies  or  conventions.  It  upholds,  there- 
fore, and  furnishes  new  and  powerful  weapons  in  defence 
of  religious  liberty.  It  is  tolerant  of  all  forms  of  error, 
innocently  imbibed  and  conscientiously  held,  and  shows 
the  possibility  of  salvation  under  all  of  them.  It  con- 
demns no  individual,  no  sect,  no  people — not  even  Ma- 
hometans or  Pagans — merely  on  account  of  their  beliefs ; 
but  teaches  that  infinite  Love  is  for  ever  brooding  over 
all ;  and  for  ever  seeking,  through  such  forms  of  faith 


22  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

and  modes  of  worship  as  are  best  suited  to  the  wants  of 
each,  to  lift  them  up  into  clearer  light  and  a  higher 
life — into  fuller  communion  and  sweeter  fellowship  with 
itself.  It  is  full,  therefore — this  New  Dispensation — 
of  the  all-embracing  and  all-reconciling  spirit  of  the 
Lord. 

The  following  extracts — and  a  volume  of  similar  ones 
might  be  quoted  from  the  writings  of  Swedenborg — will 
exhibit  something  of  the  large  and  catholic  spirit  of  this 
New  Dispensation : — 

"  Notwithstanding  there  are  so  many  various  and  dif- 
ferent doctrines  [believed  by  Christians],  still,  if  all  who 
hold  these  doctrines  did  but  acknowledge  charity  as 
the  essential  of  the  church,  or  what  is  the  same,  if  they 
had  respect  to  life  as  the  end  of  doctrine,  they  would  to- 
gether form  one  church  ;  ...  for  every  one  in  the  other 
life  is  gifted  with  a  lot  from  the  Lord  according  to  the 
good  of  his  life,  not  according  to  the  truth  of  his  doctrine 
separate  from  that  good." — Arcana  Ccelestia  3241. 

"  If  charity  were  in  the  first  place  and  faith  in  the 
second,  the  church  would  have  another  face.  For  then, 
none  would  be  called  Christians  but  they  who  lived  the 
life  of  charity.  Then,  too,  there  would  not  be  many 
churches  distinguished  by  their  different  opinions  con- 
cerning the  truths  of  faith ;  but  the  church  would  be 
called  one,  containing  all  those  who  are  in  the  good  of 
life."— Ibid.  6761. 

"  Schisms  and  heresies  would  never   have  arisen  if 


THE  NEW  DISPENSATION.  23 

» 
charity  had  continued  to  live  and  rule   in  the  church. 

For  then  they  would  not  have  called  schism  by  the  name 
of  schism,  nor  heresy  by  the  name  of  heresy  \  but  they 
would  have  called  them  doctrinals  agreeable  to  each 
one's  particular  opinion  or  way  of  thinking,  which  they 
would  have  left  to  his  individual  conscience ;  not  judging 
or  condemning  any  for  their  opinions,  provided  they  did 
not  deny  fundamental  principles — that  is,  the  Lord, 
eternal  life,  and  the  Word — and  maintained  nothing  con- 
trary to  the  commandments  of  the  decalogue."— Ibid. 
1834. 

"He  who  is  in  goodness  of  life  does  not  condemn 
another  because  he  differs  from  him  in  opinion,  but 
leaves  it  to  his  faith  and  conscience ;  and  he  extends  this 
rule  even  to  those  who  are  out  of  the  church — [those, 
that  is,  in  heathen  lands].  For  he  says  in  his  heart  that 
ignorance  cannot  condemn  any,  if  they  live  in  innocence 
and  mutual  love." — Ibid.  4468. 

"  Within  the  church  there  are  some  of  all  denomina- 
tions who  have  a  conscience ;  though  their  conscience, 
however,  is  more  perfect  according  as  the  truths  which 
form  it  approach  nearer  the  genuine  truths  of  faith." — 
Ibid.  2053. 

"  Every  one,  of  whatsoever  religion  he  be,  may  be 
saved — even  the  Gentiles  who  have  no  truths  from  the 
Word — if  only  he  has  had  regard  to  the  good  of  life 
as  an  end." — Ibid.  10648. 

"Let  this  truth  be  accepted  and  confirmed  in  the  out- 


24  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

set,  that  love  to  the  Lord  and  charity  toward  the  neigh- 
bor are  the  essentials  of  all  doctrine  and  worship,  then 
heresies  would  be  no  more ;  and  one  church  would  be 
formed  out  of  many,  however  they  might  differ  in  doc- 
trine and  ritual.  ...  In  this  case,  all  would  be  gov- 
erned as  one  man  by  the  Lord ;  for  they  would  be  like 
the  members  and  organs  of  one  body,  which,  though 
dissimilar  in  form  and  function,  still  have  reference  to 
one  heart,  on  which  they  all  depend  both  in  general 
and  in  particular,  however  various  their  forms.  Then, 
too,  every  one  would  say  of  another,  in  whatsoever  doc- 
trine or  external  worship  he  might  be,  This  is  my  broth- 
er ;  I  see  that  he  worships  the  Lord,  and  that  he  is  a 
good  man." — Ibid.  2385. 

u  Persons  in  a  blind  or  persuasive  faith,  since  they  do 
not  see  truths,  are  not  willing  that  the  doctrines  of  their 
church  should  be  approached  and  examined  rationally 
with  the  understanding ;  but  they  say  that  these  are  to 
be  received  from  a  principle  of  obedience,  which  is  called 
the  obedience  of  faith ;  and  it  is  not  known  whether 
the  things  received  in  such  blind  obedience  be  true  or 
false  ;  nor  can  they  open  the  way  to  heaven,  for  in  heaven 
nothing  but  what  is  seen,  that  is,  understood,  is  acknow- 
ledged as  truth."—  Apocalypse  Explained  1100. 

"The  dogma  that  the  understanding  is  to  be  kept  in 
subjection  to  faith,  is  rejected  in  the  New  Church ;  and  in 
its  place  this  is  to  be  received  as  a  maxim,  that  the  truth 
of  the  church  should  be  seen  in  order  that  it  may  be  be- 


THE  NEW  DISPENSATION.  25 

lieved ;  and  truth  cannot  be  seen  otherwise  than  ration- 
ally. How  can  any  man  be  led  by  the  Lord  and  con- 
joined to  heaven,  who  shuts  his  understanding  against 
such  things  as  relate  to  salvation  and  eternal  life?  Is  it 
not  the  understanding  that  is  to  be  illumined  and  in- 
structed? And  what  is  the  understanding  closed  by 
religion  but  thick  darkness,  and  such  darkness,  too,  as 
rejects  the  light  that  would  illumine  ?" — Apocalypse  Re- 
vealed 564. 

These  quotations  might  be  extended  indefinitely.  But 
the  reader  may  gather  from  the  few  here  given,  some- 
thing of  the  large,  free,  tolerant  and  truly  catholic  spirit 
of  this  new  Dispensation.  And  if  we  recognize  in 
nearly  all  the  churches  of  to-day,  a  steady  increase  of 
this  same  spirit,  that  is  only  additional  evidence  that 
"old  things'* — the  old  bigotry,  narrowness,  intolerance, 
denominational  hatreds,  and  high  partition  walls  of  the 
last  century — are  passing  away,  and  a  new  and  more 
truly  Christ-like  spirit  taking  their  place ;  agreeably  to 
the  Divine  promise:  "And  he  that  sat  upon  the  throne 
said,  Behold  I  make  all  things  new." 


If. 

THE  OLD  DOCTRINE  OF  HELL. 

A  TORE  than  a  hundred  years  ago,  Swedenborg  an- 
-L^X  nounced  the  end  or  consummation  of  the  first 
Christian  Church  or  Dispensation,  and  the  commence- 
ment of  a  new  one.  Repeatedly,  and  in  the  calmest  and 
most  emphatic  language,  did  he  declare  that  the  Lord 
had  manifested  Himself  to  him  in  person ;  had  opened 
his  spiritual  senses ;  had  permitted  him  to  see  and  con- 
verse with  the  denizens  of  the  other  world  as  men  see 
and  converse  with  each  other ;  had  vouchsafed  to  him  a 
clear  understanding  of  the  spiritual  and  true  meaning  of 
the  Sacred  Scripture ;  and  had  authorized  and  directed 
him  to  make  a  new  revelation  of  heavenly  truth  for  the 
instruction  of  all  Christians  and  for  the  benefit  of  man- 
kind. 

Up  to  this  time  comparatively  few  have  openly  em- 
braced this  new  revelation.  Yet  its  power  has  been  seen 
and  its  influence  felt  in  the  gradual  and  steady  modifica- 
tion of  the  old  theological  beliefs,  which  has  been  going 
on  in  nearly  all  of  the  sects  for  the  last  hundred  years. 
This  is  admitted  by  some  of  the  keenest  observers  and 
26 


THE    OLD  DOCTRINE.  27 

most  advanced  thinkers  in  all  the  churches.  Says  a 
learned  critic  of  rare  candor  in  the  New  York  Independ- 
ent (March  18,  1869): 

"More  than  any  other  form  of  religious  thought,  Swe- 
denborgianism  is  a  leaven  i hid  in  three  measures  of 
meal.'  To  a  careless  reader  of  ecclesiastical  statistics, 
the  Swedenborgian  Church  would  seem  to  be  one  of  the 
least  of  the  great  household  of  faith.  To  a  careful  stu- 
dent of  religious  thought,  it  appears  to  be  among  the 
most  important.  It  has  made  very  few  converts  from  the 
faith  of  orthodoxy ;  but  it  has  materially  modified  that 
faith.  ...  As  a  little  salt  changes  the  contents  of  a  large 
vessel  of  water,  so  Swedenborgianism,  seemingly  lost  in 
the  great  multitude  of  churches,  has  more  or  less  modi- 
fied the  form  of  •faith  of  all." 

And  this  very  candid  writer,  and  careful  observer  of 
the  theological  and  religious  tendencies  of  these  new 
times,  specifies  some  of  the  modifications  already  wrought 
in  the  old  theological  beliefs  by  the  teachings  of  Sweden- 
borg.  After  referring  to  the  old  doctrines  of  the  Trin- 
ity, the  Atonement,  and  the  Sacred  Scripture,  and  show- 
ing how  these  have  been  already  modified  by  the  writings 
of  the  Swedish  seer,  he  concludes  his  list  of  specifica- 
tions thus : 

"The  church  [meaning  all  the  so-called  orthodox  de- 
nominations] holds  fast  to  the  solemn  truth,  which  no 
one  has  ever  taught  more  vividly  than  Christ  himself,  that 
after  death  is  the  judgment,  and  after  judgment  heaven 


28  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

and  hell ;  but  it  has  accepted,  unconsciously,  from  Swe- 
denborg,  his  teaching  that  rvery  man  carries  heaven  or 
hell  in  his  own  bosom ;  and  remits  to  the  Past  the  fear- 
ful pictures  of  Edwards  and  his  cotemporaries,  of  literal 
torments  and  a  remorseless  and  pitiless  God." 

And  with  equal  truth  and  plainness  (though  with  a 
little  less  candor,  perhaps,  in  not  hinting  at  the  real  cause) 
the  distinguished  pastor  of  Plymouth  Church  (Brooklyn), 
said  in  a  sermon  on  "Future  Punishment* '  preached 
some  months  ago:  "that -the  educated  Christian  mind 
of  all  lands,  for  the  last  hundred  years  [note  the  period] 
has  been  changing* *  in  regard  to  the  nature  of  punish- 
ment in  the  great  Hereafter. 

"It  is  certainly  true,"  he  continues,  "that  theories 
have  been  changing  from  gross  material  representations 
[of  hell],  more  and  more  in  the  direction  of  moral  repre- 
sentations. It  is  very  true  that  this  subject  is  not  preached 
as  it  used  to  be — not  as  it  was  in  my  childhood.  It  has 
not  been  preached  so  often,  nor  with  the  same  fiery  and 
familiar  boldness  that  it  used  to  be.  Multitudes  of  men 
who  give  every  evidence  of  being  spiritual,  regenerate, 
devout,  laborious  and  self-denying,  'find  themselves 
straitened  in  their  minds  in  respect  to  this  question, 
and  are  turning  anxiously  every  whither  to  see  whence 
relief  may  come  to  them.  There  has  been  a  profound 
change  [within  the  last  hundred  years,  observe]  in  the 
sentiment  of  Christendom  in  regard  to  those  gross  rep- 
resentations of  future  punishment,  which  were  handed 


THE   OLD  DOCTRINE.  29 

down  to  us  from  the  past."  And  he  gives,  as  among  the 
reasons  of  those  gross  representations,  "  the  mediaeval 
literalization  of  the  Bible  figures.' ' 

Now,  to  judge  correctly  of  the  need  there  was  of  a 
new  revelation  a  hundred  years  ago,  we  should  go  back 
to  the  time  when  Swedenborg  wrote,  and  see  what 
were  the  then  accepted  teachings  upon  the  various 
points  of  Christian  theology.  Since  that  time  the  be- 
liefs of  Christians  have,  through  the  light  of  the  New 
Dispensation  (which  is  "as  the  lightning  that  cometh 
out  of  the  east  and  shineth  even  unto  the  west"),  be- 
come so  modified,  that,  on  many  subjects,  they  bear  but 
little  resemblance  to  those  held  previous  to  that  time. 
Very  few  are  aware  of  the  changes  in  theological  opinion 
that  have  taken  place  in  nearly  all  the  churches  during 
the  last  hundred  years,  and  that  are  still  going  on  at  a 
rapid  pace ;  and  fewer  still  are  aware  of  the  cause  of 
these  changes. 

Take,  for  illustration,  the  doctrine  concerning  hell,  or 
the  future  punishment  of  the  wicked.  At  the  time  Sweden- 
borg wrote,  the  commonly  received  doctrine  in  all  the 
churches  was  according  to  the  literal  teaching  of  the 
Bible.  It  was  believed  and  taught  for  Christian  verity 
that  hell  is  literally  a  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone ; — a 
place  created  by  the  Lord  at  the  beginning  for  the  ex- 
press purpose  of  inflicting  upon  all  who  die  in  their  sins 
as  much  suffering  as  infinite  ingenuity  could  possibly  de- 
vise. It  was  held  that  sinners,  after  death,  were  to  be 
3* 


3<>  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

cast  alive  into  this  burning  lake  by  order  of  the  Supreme 
Judge  of  the  universe,  as  criminals  on  earth  are  cast  into 
prison  by  order  of  the  judges  of  criminal  courts.  And 
that  they  were  always  to  remain  there,  perfectly  con- 
scious, indued  with  the  most  exquisite  sensibility  to 
pain,  forever  burning  yet  never  consumed,  writhing  and 
groaning  in  eternal  agony.  And  as  if  this  were  not  tor- 
ment enough,  the  gross  imaginations  of  religious  teachers 
often  added  other  horrors  equally  revolting.  Mr.  Buckle, 
in  his  History  of  Civilization  in  England,  speaking  of  the 
clergy  of  the  seventeenth  century — especially  the  Scotch 
clergy — and  their  view  of  hell  and  its  torments,  says : 

"  In  the  pictures  which  they  drew,  they  reproduced  and 
heightened  the  barbarous  imagery  of  a  barbarous  age. 
They  delighted  in  telling  their  hearers  that  they  would 
be  roasted  in  great  fires  and  hung  up  by  their  tongues. 
They  were  to  be  lashed  with  scorpions,  and  see  their 
companions  writhing  and  howling  around  them.  They 
were  to  be  thrown  into  boiling  oil  and  scalding  lead. 
A  river  of  brimstone  broader  than  the  earth  was  prepared 
for  them  ;  in  that  they  were  to  be  immersed.  .  .  .  Such 
were  the  first  stages  of  suffering,  and  they  were  only  the 
first.  For  the  torture,  besides  being  unceasing,  was  to 
become  gradually  worse.  So  refined  was  the  cruelty, 
that  one  hell  was  succeeded  by  another;  and,  lest  the 
sufferer  should  grow  callous,  he  was,  after  a  time,  moved 
on,  that  he  might  undergo  fresh  agonies  in  fresh  places, 
provision  being  made  that  the  torment  should  not  pall 


THE    OLD  DOCTRINE,  3 1 

on  the  sense,  but  should  be  varied  in  its  character  as  well 
as  eternal  in  its  duration. 

11  All  this  was  the  work  of  the  God  of  the  Scotch  clergy. 
It  was  not  only  his  work,  it  was  his  joy  and  his  pride. 
For,  according  to  them,  hell  was  created  before  man 
came  into  the  world  ;  the  Almighty,  they  did  not  scruple 
to  say,  having  spent  his  previous  leisure  in  preparing  and 
completing  this  place  of  torture,  so  that,  when  the  human 
race  appeared,  it  might  be  ready  for  their  reception. 
Ample,  however,  as  the  arrangements  were,  they  were  in- 
sufficient ;  and  hell  not  being  big  enough  to  contain  the 
countless  victims  incessantly  poured  into  it,  had,  in  these 
latter  days,  been  enlarged.  But  in  that  vast  expanse 
there  was  no  void,  for  the  whole  of  it  reverberated  with 
the  shrieks  and  yells  of  undying  agony.  .  .  .  Both  chil- 
dren and  fathers  made  hell  echo  with  their  piercing 
screams,  writhing  in  convulsive  agony  at  the  torments 
which  they  suffered,  and  knowing  that  other  torments 
more  grievous  still  were  reserved  for  them."  (Vol.  II. 
pp.  294,  295.) 

Now  every  statement  that  Mr.  Buckle  here  makes, 
finds  ample  confirmation  in  the  works  of  distinguished 
theologians  of  that  period  and  some  of  the  previous  cen- 
turies. Rutherford  in  his  Religious  Letters,  speaking  of 
the  future  punishment  of  the  wicked,  says:  "Tongue, 
lungs  and  liver,  bones  and  all,  shall  boil  and  fry  in  a  tor- 
turing fire"  (p.  17); — "a  river  of  fire  and  brimstone 
broader  than  the  earth."  (p.  35.)     And  Boston,  in  his 


32  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

Human  Nature  in  its  Fourfold  State,  treating  of  this  same 
subject,  says:  "They  will  be  universal  torments,  every 
part  of  the  creature  being  tormented  in  that  flame.  When 
one  is  cast  into  a  fiery  furnace,  the  fire  makes  its  way  into 
the  very  bowels,  and  leaves  no  member  untouched  :  what 
part  then  can  have  ease  when  the  damned  swim  in  a  lake 
of  fire  burning  with  brimstone  ?"  (p.  458.)  And  Rev. 
Thomas  Halyburton,  in  his  Great  Concern  of  Salvation, 
says :  "  Consider,  Who  is  the  contriver  of  these  torments. 
There  have  been  some  very  exquisite  torments  contrived 
by  the  wit  of  men,  the  naming  of  which,  if  ye  under- 
stood their  nature,  were  enough  to  fill  your  hearts  with 
horror ;  but  all  these  fall  as  far  short  of  the  torments  ye 
are  to  endure,  as  the  wisdom  of  man  falls  short  of  that 
of  God."  (p.  154,  Edinburgh  edit.,  1722.) 

Such  was  the  generally  accepted  doctrine  concerning 
hell  in  all  the  Christian  churches  at  the  time  Sweden- 
borg  wrote.  Such,  too,  had  been  the  doctrine  for  cen- 
turies previous,  as  we  learn  from  Christian  writers  and 
Christian  artists.  These  latter  aimed  to  embody  or  repre- 
sent upon  canvas  the  prevalent  Christian  thought  of  the 
period  in  which  they  lived.  Thus  Michael  Angelo,  in 
his  picture  of  the  Last  judgment,  tells  us  more  plainly 
than  words  could  tell,  what  idea  Christians  of  his  day 
had  of  the  future  punishment  of  the  wicked.  Truly  did 
Mr.  Beecher  say  in  one  of  his  sermons  not  long  ago : 

"If  you  will  take  this  picture,  you  will  better  under- 
stand what  was  the  real  feeling  of  the  age  in  which  he 


THE    OLD   DOCTRINE.  33 

lived  on  the  subject  of  reward  and  punishment,  than  by 
reading  any  amount  of  theological  treatises.  Let  any 
one  look  at  that ;  let  any  one  see  the  enormous  gigantic 
coils  of  fiends  and  men ;  let  any  one  look  at  that  defiant 
Christ  that  stands  like  a  superb  athlete  at  the  front, 
hurling  his  enemies  from  him  and  calling  his  friends 
toward  him  as  Hercules  might  have  done ;  let  any  one 
look  upon  that  hideous  wriggling  mass  that  goes  plung- 
ing down  through  the  air — serpents  and  men  and  beasts 
of  every  nauseous  kind,  mixed  together ;  let  him  look  at 
the  lower  parts  of  the  picture,  where  with  pitchforks 
men  are  by  devils  being  cast  into  caldrons  and  into  burn- 
ing fires,  where  hateful  fiends  are  gnawing  the  skulls  of 
suffering  sinners,  and  where  there  is  hellish  cannibalism 
going  on — let  a  man  look  at  that  picture  and  the  scenes 
which  it  depicts,  and  he  sees  what  were  the  ideas  which 
men  once  had  of  hell  and  of  divine  justice.  It  was  a 
nightmare  as  hideous  as  was  ever  begotten  by  the  hellish 
brood  itself;  and  it  was  an  atrocious  slander  on  God. 
...  I  do  not  wonder  that  men  have  reacted  from  these 
horrors — I  honor  them  for  it.M  {Plymouth  Pulpit  for  Oct. 
29,  1870.) 

And  this  bold  and  eloquent  divine  further  adds  in  the 
same  discourse : 

"  To  allow  such  a  stream  of  human  existence  to  be  fed 
and  renewed  in  every  generation,  which  was  pouring 
over  the  precipice  at  the  rate  of  thirty  millions  a  year, 
into  such  torments  as  the  old  method  of  representation 

c 


34  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

presented  to  us,  and  at  the  same  time  to  teach  that  God 
was  a  loving  Father — these  two  things  have  seemed  so 
difficult  to  multitudes  of  persons,  that  they  have  fled 
from  the  attempt  to  reconcile  them,  and  have  abandoned 
all  belief  in  them." 

And  how  does  Mr.  Beecher  himself  reconcile  them? 
Or  how  does  he  understand  and  interpret  the  language 
of  the  Bible  which  refers  to  the  future  state  of  the  wicked  ? 
He  frankly  confesses  his  own  blindness  and  confusion 
here.  He  don't  know  what  to  make  of  this  language. 
"  It  goes  to  my  heart  to  say  these  things,' '  he  says — i.  e. 
the  things  he  finds  in  the  Bible.  "Yet  it  is  there,  and 
if  I  am  faithful  to  my  whole  duty  I  must  preach  it.  As 
a  surgeon  does  things  that  are  most  uncongenial  to  him- 
self, so  sometimes  do  I.  And  I  do  this  with  tears  and 
with  sorrow.     It  makes  me  sick." 

It  is  plain,  then,  what  was  the  old  and  universally  re- 
ceived doctrine  among  Christians  concerning  hell  at  the 
time  Swedenborg  wrote. 

Very  few,  however,  believe  this  doctrine  now.  The 
light  that  has  been  flowing  into  all  minds  from  out  the 
new  angelic  heavens  for  the  last  hundred  years,  has  so 
clearly  revealed  its  hideousness,  that  you  will  hardly  find 
an  intelligent  Christian  of  any  denomination  now-a-days, 
who  does  not  reject  it.  Most  people  have  no  rational 
and  clearly  defined  doctrine  to  take  the  place  of  the  old ; 
but  this  latter  nobody  now  accepts. 

The  old  doctrine,  therefore,  being  such  as  we  find  it — 


THE    OLD  DOCTRINE.  35 

so  irrational  and  monstrous  and  cruel  in  itself — so  utterly 
repugnant  to  every  true  Christian  feeling  and  to  every 
just  conception  of  the  character  and  government  of  God 
— is  it  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  the  Divine  Being 
would  some  day  vouchsafe  a  further  revelation  to  his 
children  on  this  subject  ?  If  there  ever  was  a  subject  on 
which  the  minds  of  men  were  in  utter  and  impene- 
trable darkness,  and  on  which,  therefore,  a  further  reve- 
lation was  needed,  is  it  not  the  very  subject  we  are  con- 
sidering ?  And  at  what  time  should  we  expect  the  reve- 
lation to  be  made,  other  than  that  when  it  seemed  most 
necessary — the  time  of  densest  spiritual  darkness,  when 
such  preposterous  ideas  as  to  the  nature  of  hell  and  future 
punishment  as  those  I  have  here  presented,  were  gener- 
ally taught  and  accepted  for  revealed  truth  ? 


III. 

THE  NEW  VIEW. 

AI7E  have  seen  what  the  doctrine  of  hell  was,  which 
*  *  was  generally  taught  and  accepted  by  Christians 
a  hundred  years  ago.  It  was  a  doctrine  quite  in  agree- 
ment with  the  sensuous  appearances  of  truth  in  the  letter 
of  the  Word  ;  and  in  agreement,  therefore,  with  the  gross 
conceptions  of  men  in  a  carnal  and  sensuous  state.  It 
taught  that  hell  was,  literally,  a  lake  of  fire  and  brim- 
stone ; — a  place  into  which  the  wicked  were  to  be  finally 
cast,  not  out  of  mercy  to  them,  or  from  any  consideration 
of  their  comfort,  improvement,  or  best  welfare,  but  from 
a  feeling  of  Divine  wrath  and  vindictiveness.  It  was 
the  generally  accepted  belief  when  Swedenborg  wrote, 
that  this  fiery  lake  was  created  for  the  express  purpose  of 
inflicting  upon  sinners  the  most  excruciating  tortures 
which  Divine  ingenuity  could  invent. 

Moreover,  according  to  the  doctrine  of  that  period, 
the  Supreme  Judge  of  all  the  earth  took  a  fiendish  delight 
in  casting  his  rebellious  offspring  into  that  fiery  gulf, 
listening  to  their  agonizing  shrieks,  and  gazing  on  their 
ceaseless  and  indescribable  sufferings  !  And  no  incon- 
siderable part  of  the  joys  of  heaven,  it  was  also  believed 
3« 


THE  NEW  DOCTRINE.  37 

and  taught,  would  spring  from  a  clear  view,  given  to 
those  there,  of  the  dreadful  torments  of  the  damned, 
and  from  a  contemplation  of  the  contrast  between  the 
miserable  condition  of  these  latter,  and  their  own  happy 
condition  in  the  realms  of  bliss  I 

Such  was  the  dreadful  doctrine  taught  from  most  if 
not  all  of  the  pulpits  in  Christendom  a  hundred  years 
ago  ! — taught  for  the  revealed  truth  of  God  ! — taught  by 
the  professed  expounders  of  the  Word  of  God  ! — by  the 
acknowledged  teachers  and  guides  of  the  people  in  mat- 
ters pertaining  to  man's  immortal  life  ! 

Yet  intelligent  people  gravely  ask,  What  need  was  there 
of  any  new  or  further  revelation  at  the  time  Swedenborg 
lived  and  wrote?  Considering  how  the  Word  of  God 
was  then  misunderstood  and  falsified  by  its  professed  ex- 
pounders— in  what  fearful  darkness  the  minds  of  pro- 
fessing Christians  were  then  immersed,  not  only  upon 
this  subject  but  upon  others  also  pertaining  to  religion, 
it  would,  indeed,  have  been  strange  if  a  new  revelation 
had  not  then  been  made. 

Nor  need  we  wonder,  in  view  of  this  horrible  doctrine 
concerning  hell,  which  was  commonly  taught  a  hundred 
years  ago  for  Bible  truth  (to  say  nothing  of  other  doc- 
trines equally  revolting),  that  so  many  in  Christian  lands 
should  have  lost  all  faith  in  the  Bible  as  a  Divine  revela- 
tion ;  and  that  many  others  who  retain  their  faith,  should 
have  come  to  deny  the  existence  of  any  hell  whatever  in 
the  other  world.     Among  the  last  and  sure  results  of 

J^O*0  OF  THE^J^\ 


3S  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

false  teaching,  are  suspicions,  doubts,  denials,  and  finally 
the  total  eclipse  of  all  faith. 

See  how  good  men — ministers  of  the  gospel  even — who 
have  not  accepted  the  rational  and  heart-cheering  truths 
of  the  New  Dispensation,  are  troubled  even  in  this  our 
day  by  what  they  suppose  the  Bible  to  teach  in  regard  to 
the  future  state  of  the  wicked.  Says  the  late  Rev.  Dr. 
Barnes,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  the  Presbyterian 
ministers  of  our  country: — 

"  That  any  should  suffer  for  ever,  lingering  on  in  hope- 
less despair,  and  rolling  amidst  infinite  torments  without 
the  possibility  of  alleviation  and  without  end ;  that  since 
God  can  save  men  and  will  save  a  part,  He  has  not  pro- 
posed to  save  all — these  are  real,  not  imaginary,  difficul- 
ties. .  .  .  My  whole  soul  pants  for  light  and  relief  on 
these  questions.  But  I  get  neither ;  and  in  the  distress 
and  anguish  of  my  own  spirit,  I  confess  that  I  see  no 
light  whatever.  I  see  not  one  ray  to  disclose  to  me  why 
sin  came  into  the  world ;  why  the  earth  is  strewn  with 
the  dying  and  the  dead  ;  and  why  man  must  suffer  to  all 
eternity.  I  have  never  seen  a  particle  of  light  thrown 
on  these  subjects,  that  has  given  a  moment's  ease  to  my 
tortured  mind.  ...  I  confess,  when  I  look  on  a  world 
of  sinners  and  sufferers— upon  death-beds  and  grave- 
yards— upon  the  world  of  woe  filled  with  hosts  to  suffer 
for  ever ;  when  I  see  my  friends,  my  family,  my  people, 
my  fellow-citizens — when  I  look  upon  a  whole  race,  all 
involved   in  this  sin  and  danger — and   when  I  see  the 


THE  NEW  DOCTRINE.  39 

great  mass  of  them  wholly  unconcerned,  and  when  I  feel 
that  God  only  can  save  them,  and  yet  He  does  not  do  so, 
I  am  struck  dumb.  It  is  all  dark,  dark,  dark,  to  my 
soul,  and  I  cannot  disguise  it." 

How  many  other  good  men  are  there  among  the  Chris- 
tian ministers  of  to-day,  who,  if  they  would  but  confess 
the  honest  truth,  would  tell  you  that  they  are  in  just  the 
same  darkness  and  distress  that  Dr.  Barnes  here  confesses 
to — if  not  upon  the  same  subjects,  then  upon  some  others 
no  better  understood.  Yet  Dr.  Barnes  himself,  I  pre- 
sume, was  so  confirmed  in  all  the  dogmas  of  the  Presby- 
terian church,  that  the  light  of  heaven  as  it  beams  out 
from  the  luminous  pages,  of  Swedenborg,  would  have 
seemed  to  him  darkness  as  thick,  perhaps,  as  that  in 
which  he  confessed  himself  to  be ; — it  could  hardly  have 
seemed  more  dense.  Verily,  "  the  light  shineth  in  dark- 
ness, and  the  darkness  comprehendeth  it  not." 

Certainly,  then,  a  new  revelation  concerning  the  nature 
of  hell,  or  concerning  the  condition  of  the  wicked  in 
the  great  Hereafter,  was  greatly  needed  when  Sweden- 
borg wrote ;  and  therefore  it  was  to  be  expected. 

Let  us  now  examine  the  New  doctrine  on  this  subject, 
and  see  whether  it  is  really  worthy  of  the  origin  claimed 
for  it;  or  whether  it  be  as  irrational  as  the  Old  one 
which  it  comes  professedly  to  displace. 

According  to  the  new  doctrine  of  the  immortal  life, 
the  human  soul  is  in  the  same  form  as  the  material  body 
— that  is,  the  human  form.      It  is  organized  of  spiritual 


4<>  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

substance,  as  the  natural  body  is  of  material  substance. 
It  is  the  real  individual— man,  woman  or  child.  It  is 
that  in  us  which  thinks,  remembers,  reasons,  loves.  It  is 
endowed  with  the  senses  of  seeing,  hearing,  feeling,  etc. 
— far  more  acute  and  perfect,  too,  than  the  bodily  senses. 
It  is  not  subject  to  decay  or  death,  but  lives  on  after  the 
natural  body  dies.  When  that  change  which  we  call 
death  (and  which  is  the  death  of  the  body)  takes  place, 
the  soul  passes  consciously  into  the  spiritual  world.  It 
was  there  before  death,  but  aw-consciously  while  its  out- 
look was  into  the  realm  of  nature ;  just  as  the  body  in  a 
state  of  sleep  is,  unconsciously,  in  the  natural  world ; 
and  when  it  awakes,  it  becomes  fully  conscious  of  its 
abode  here. 

While  the  soul  tabernacles  in  the  flesh,  its  senses  are 
ordinarily  closed;  but  when  released  from  all  connec- 
tion with  the  body,  its  senses  are  all  opened.  It  awakes 
to  a  consciousness  of  its  existence  in  the  spiritual  world. 
It  is  then  brought  into  open  and  sensible  intercourse  with 
the  people  and  objects  of  that  world.  Its  eyes  and  ears 
being  opened,  it  sees  and  hears  other  spirits  as  plainly  as 
we  see  and  hear  one  another. 

And  when  the  body  dies,  the  character  of  every  soul 
is,  and  continues  to  be,  essentially  the  same  as  it  was 
before  death.  And  every  one's  character  depends  on 
the  nature  of  his  supreme  or  governing  purpose — that 
is,  on  the  character  of  his  ruling  love.  If  he  were  wise 
and  righteous  before  death— if  he  took  delight  in  serving 


THE   NEW  DOCTREXE.  41 

and  blessing  others,  he  will  be  wise  and  righteous  after, 
will  find  still  greater  delight  in  serving  and  blessing,  and 
feel  a  more  intense  desire  to  serve  and  bless.  But  if  he 
loved  himself  supremely — if  his  chief  aim  in  life  was  to 
get  gain  for  himself  alone,  to  secure  his  own  ease,  com- 
fort and  advancement,  and  promote  his  own  welfare, 
careless  of  the  welfare  and  the  rights  of  others,  he  will 
be  in  precisely  the  same  state  after  death ;  he  will  be 
just  as  indifferent  to  the  wants,  the  woes,  the  welfare  and 
the  rights  of  others  as  he  was  before.  If  he  had  no 
genuine  love  of  the  Lord  and  the  neighbor  before,  he 
will  have  none  after.  If  meanness,  dishonesty,  lust, 
tyranny,  hatred,  contempt  of  others  in  comparison  with 
himself,  and  selfish  greed  of  gain,  were  in  his  heart  be- 
fore, he  will  be  full  of  these  same  unclean  and  hateful 
vermin  after.  As  it  is  written  :  "  He  that  is  unjust,  will 
be  unjust  still ;  and  he  that  is  filthy,  will  be  filthy  still ; 
and  he  that  is  righteous,  will  be  righteous  still ;  and  he 
that  is  holy,  will  be  holy  still. " 

Heaven  is  within  the  soul ;  so  says  the  new  doctrine. 
It  is  essentially  a  state  of  life,  not  a  place  ; — a  state  of 
supreme  love  to  the  Lord  and  the  neighbor.  It  consists 
in  the  reception  and  exercise  of  the  Lord's  own  unselfish 
love,  which  for  ever  seeks  not  its  own,  but  the  welfare 
and  happiness  of  others.  The  happiness  of  heaven  re- 
sults from  the  exercise  of  unselfish  love.  This  love  is 
the  angels'  breath  of  life ;  and  the  purer  and  more  in- 
tense it  is,  the  more  exalted  is  their  bliss. 
4* 


42  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

We  see  how  well  this  agrees  with  the  teaching  of  our 
Lord.  For  not  only  does  He  tell  us  that  the  sum  of  all 
which  the  Law  and  the  Prophets  teach,  is  comprehended 
in  the  two  great  commandments  which  require  us  to  love 
the  Lord  supremely  and  our  neighbor  as  ourselves,  but 
He  says  also  that  "the  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you." 
And  the  kingdom  of  God  is  the  same  as  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  Wherever  love — pure,  unselfish  love — reigns, 
there  the  Lord  reigns ;  there  his  kingdom  is  established 
and  his  laws  obeyed. 

And  as  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  within,  so  also  (says 
the  New  doctrine)  is  the  kingdom  of  hell.  As  heaven 
consists  essentially  in  love  to  the  Lord  and  the  neigh- 
bor, which  is  the  love  of  doing  good  and  serving,  so 
hell  consists  essentially  in  the  opposite  kind  of  love — in 
the  love  of  one's  own  self;  and  this  love  is  real  hatred  of 
the  neighbor. 

Hell,  therefore,  is  a  state  of  life  the  very  opposite  to 
that  of  heaven.  It  is  a  state  in  which  the  love  of  self 
has  absolute  dominion  in  the  heart.  This  love  is  the 
fountain  of  all  other  evil  loves.  It  is  the  primal  source 
of  all  infernal  deeds.  When  it  reigns  supreme  in  the 
heart,  there  is  no  evil  thing  which  a  man  will  not  do 
unless  restrained  by  force,  or  by  fear  of  loss,  suffering  or 
damage  of  some  sort.  Hence  the  Lord  says:  "For  out 
of  the  heart  proceed  evil  thoughts,  muxders,  adulteries, 
fornications,  thefts,  false  witness,  blasphemy" — all  the 


THE   NEW  DOCTRINE.  43 

things  which  defile  a  man,  or  render  him  spiritually  un- 
clean. 

We  see,  then,  where  hell  is  and  what  it  is,  according 
to  the  New  doctrine.  It  is  in  the  soul,  and  consists  essen- 
tially in  the  supreme  love  of  self  which  prompts  to  all 
infernal  deeds.  To  have  hell  in  the  soul,  or  to  be  in  a 
state  of  supreme  self-love,  is  to  be  in  hell;  just  as  having 
heaven  within,  or  loving  the  Lord  supremely  and  the 
neighbor  as  one's  self,  is  to  be  in  heaven. 

Now  all  men  are  by  natural  inheritance  more  or  less 
selfish.  Naturally,  therefore,  we  are  all  in  the  low  state 
denoted  by  hell ;  for  we  are  dominated  more  or  less  abso- 
lutely by  the  love  of  self.  This  is  a  low — a  merely  ani- 
mal love;  and  as  our  corporeal  or  animal  life  unfolds 
and  matures,  this  love  also  unfolds  and  strengthens ;  so 
that  when  we  have  attained  to  full  maturity,  it  is  usually 
the  strongest — the  ruling  love.  But  this  is  not  our  true 
state.  It  is  not  the  properly  human  state.  It  is  not  the 
orderly  or  blissful  state  for  which  we  were  created.  It 
is  not  the  state  in  which  the  Lord  desires  that  we  should 
remain,  because  He  desires  that  all  should  be  happy. 
Therefore  He  is  in  the  constant  effort  to  lift  us  out  of 
our  carnal  selfish  state,  and  to  make  us  unselfish  and 
loving  like  Himself.  For  this  end  He  assumed  our 
natural  humanity.  For  this  end  He  has  revealed  the  laws 
of  our  higher  or  heavenly  life.  For  this  end  He  has 
shown  us  very  clearly  the  way  to  rise  out  of  our  natural 
state  of  self-love,  which   is   hell,  into  that  higher  and 


44  W   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

nobler  state — that  state  of  sweet  unselfish  love,  which 
is  heaven. 

This  great  change  (for  it  is,  indeed,  a  great  change),  or 
this  passing  out  of  a  low,  natural,  selfish  state  of  life,  into 
one  that  is  higher,  richer,  nobler — in  short,  into  the 
truly  human  state,  is  spoken  of  in  the  Bible  as  a  "  resur- 
rection to  newness  of  life;"  as  a  "putting  off  of  the 
old  man,  which  is  corrupt  according  to  the  deceitful 
lusts,"  and  a  "putting  on  of  the  new  man,  which  after 
God  is  created  in  righteousness  and  true  holiness  ;M  as 
"  passing  from  death  unto  life  ;M  as  being  "  born  again  M 
— "  born  from  above  M — "  born  of  God,"  without  which, 
we  are  assured,  no  one  can  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
"  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  king- 
dom of  God." 

Now  although  the  Lord  desires  that  we  should  all  pass 
out  of  our  low  or  hellish  state,  into  that  high  and  heav- 
enly one  which  He  has  made  us  capable  of  attaining, 
although  He  has  told  us  how  we  may  do  so — has  made 
the  way  very  plain — has  assumed  our  nature  with  all  its 
hereditary  and  selfish  proclivities  that  He  might  thereby 
become  to  us  THE  WAY — yet  He  uses  no  compulsion. 
He  leaves  all  in  freedom  to  either  remain  in  their  low 
natural  state,  which  is  hell,  or  to  rise  out  of  it  into  that 
exalted  and  unselfish  state,  which  is  heaven.  He  has 
made  known  the  conditions  upon  which  alone  we  can 
rise ;  and  He  is  ever  ready  to  lend  us  all  needed  help. 
He  is  continually  calling  to  us  and  saying,  This  is  the 


THE  NEW  DOCTRINE,  45 

way ;  walk  ye  in  it.  But  He  does  not  take  hold  of  us 
like  a  policeman,  and  force  us  to  walk  in  that  way.  No 
one  can  be  forced  to  heaven ;  for  no  one  can  be  forced 
to  shun  evils  as  sins,  nor  to  love  what  is  good  and  true  for 
its  own  sake.  To  go  to  heaven,  we  must  freely  comply 
with  the  conditions;  and  the  conditions  are,  that  we 
voluntarily  obey  the  laws  of  the  heavenly  life ; — that  we 
struggle  with  and  overcome  our  selfish  and  evil  propen- 
sities;— that  we  deny  self,  take  up  our  cross,  and  follow 
the  Lord  in  the  regeneration. 

Such,  briefly,  is  the  New  doctrine  concerning  hell — 
where  it  is,  what  it  is,  and  how  to  escape  it.  Is  there 
anything  in  it  absurd  and  revolting,  as  we  have  seen  that 
there  is  in  the  Old?  Is  there  anything  here  against 
which  enlightened  reason  utters  its  emphatic  protest? — 
anything  which  impugns  the  wisdom  or  love  of  our 
Heavenly  Father  ? 

But  how  does  this  doctrine,  it  will  be  asked,  accord 
with  the  teaching  of  Scripture?  It  may  be  reasonable — 
far  more  reasonable  than  the  Old  doctrine.  But  is  it 
also  Scriptural?  This  is  the  question — and  an  important 
one  it  is,  toe — which  next  claims  and  will  receive  atten- 
tion. 


IV. 


THE  SCRIPTURE  ARGUMENT.— SHE  OL,  HADES,  GE- 
HENNA, AND  THE  LAKE  OF  FIRE. 

I  HAVE  said  that  while  the  Old  doctrine  of  hell  is 
sensuous,  and  in  agreement  with  a  sensuous  philoso- 
phy and  a  sensuous  interpretation  of  Scripture,  the  New 
is  eminently  spiritual,  and  in  harmony  with  the  higher 
spiritual  philosophy  and  with  the  spiritual  interpretation 
of  the  Word. 

For  the  essential  difference  between  the  Old  and  the 
New  doctrine,  lies  in  this :  That  the  Old  represents*  hell 
as  a  place,  created  by  the  Lord  at  the  time  of  man's 
creation,  previous  to  his  lapse  into  sin,  and  for  the  express 
purpose  of  tormenting  sinners ;  while  the  New  declares 
it  to  be  a  certain  internal  state,  wrought  out  in  freedom 
through  the  voluntary  infraction  of  the  soul's  own  laws, 
or  the  laws  of  our  higher  life.  Your  child  may  reside  in 
the  same  J>/ace  with  yourself — beneath  the  shelter  of  the 
same  roof,  and  surrounded  by  the  same  beautiful  objects. 
But  by  a  course  of  willful  disobedience  or  unreasonable 
self-indulgence,  that  child  may  have  destroyed  its  health, 
impaired  its  senses,  and  rendered  itself  miserable  and 
wretched  generally.     And  until  its  habits  are  changed 

46 


SHEOL,  HADES,  GEHENNA,  ETC.  47 

and  its  health  renewed,  it  will  find  rest  and  comfort  in 
no  place  however  beautiful. 

Both  hell  and  heaven,  according  to  the  New  Theology, 
are  within  men.  They  are  not  places  but  states  of  life. 
But  in  the  other  world,  these  states  project  themselves 
outwardly,  making  all  the  surroundings  of  each  spirit  a 
perfect  mirror,  as  it  were,  of  himself; — reflecting  with 
mathematical  precision  his  own  affections  and  thoughts. 
Heaven  is  a  state  the  very  opposite  of  hell  ;  as  opposite 
as  day  is  to  night,  light  to  darkness,  health  to  sickness, 
love  to  hate,  good  to  evil.  The  essential  life  of  heaven, 
is  the  life  of  disinterested  love — love  to  the  Lord  and 
the  neighbor.  The  essential  life  of  hell,  is  the  life  of  . 
self-love;  and  this  is  real  hatred  of  the  neighbor. 
Heaven  is  a  state  in  which  the  understanding  is  illu- 
mined by  the  light  of  truth ;  hell  is  a  state  in  which  it  is 
obscured  by  the  darkness  of  falsity.  Heaven  is  a  state 
of  spiritual  health,  order,  peace  and  joy  unutterable; 
hell  is  a  state  of  spiritual  sickness,  disorder,  unrest  and 
comparative  sorrow.  In  the  most  exalted  heavenly  state, 
every  one  loves  others  even  more  than  he  loves  himself; 
in  hell,  and  in  all  hellish  states,  every  one  hates  others 
in  comparison  with  himself.  Heaven  is  a  state  of  hu- 
mility, self-forgetfulness,  and  of  sweet  and  serene  trust 
in  the  Lord ;  hell  is  a  state  of  pride,  self-seeking,  and 
inward  alienation  from  and  opposition  to  the  Lord. 
Heaven  is  a  state  of  the  most  delightful  freedom,  in 
which  every  one  finds  his  highest  gratification   in  the 


48  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

performance  of  good  uses  from  love  to  the  Lord  and 
his  neighbor;  hell  is  a  state  of  spiritual  thraldom,  in 
which  no  useful  act  is  performed  from  love  of  or  delight 
in  the  use,  but  only  by  compulsion,  as  a  slave  works 
under  the  lash. 

It  should  be  said,  however,  that  the  love  of  self  is  evil 
and  makes  man  an  infernal  only  when  it  is  the  supreme 
and  ruling  love.     Then  it  is  out  of  its  place  and  the  soul 

in  disorder.  In  its  right  place,  which  is  a  state  of 
subordination  and  complete  subjection  to  the  nobler 
love  of  heaven,  it  is  good  and  useful.  Says  Sweden- 
borg: 

"  These  three  loves  [the  love  of  heaven,  the  love  of 
the  world,  and  the  love  of  self]  are  related  to  each  other 
like  the  three  regions  of  the  body,  the  highest  of  which 
is  the  head,  the  intermediate  the  chest  and  abdomen, 
while  the  legs  and  feet  and  soles  of  the  feet  form  the 
third.  When  the  love  of  heaven  forms  the  head,  the 
love  of  the  world  the  chest  and  abdomen,  and  the  love 
of  self  the  feet  with  the  soles  of  the  feet,  then  man  is  in 
a  perfect  state  according  to  creation,  because  the  two 
lower  loves  then  subserve  the  highest  as  the  body  and 
all  its  parts  subserve  the  head."  {True  Christian  Relig- 
ion, 403.) 

But  when  the  love  of  self  or  of  the  world  is  as  the 
head — is  supreme — then  the  true  order  is  reversed ;  the 
man  is  turned,  as  it  were,  upside  down;  the  love  of 
heaven  is  as  tre  feet,  and  he  tramples  on  the  laws  of 


SHEOL,  HADES,  GEHENNA,  ETC.  49 

justice  and  neighborly  love  as  often  as  his  ruler  (self- 
love)  dictates. 

Such,  according  to  Swedenborg  is  the  essential  nature 
of  heaven  and  hell.  They  are  both  within  the  human 
soul,  and  consist  in  essentially  opposite  states  of  life — 
opposite  kinds  of  love — resulting  by  inevitable  sequence, 
in  character,  conduct,  modes  of  government,  and  an 
outward  or  objective  world,  as  different  as  are  the  loves 
that  rule  in  these  two  kingdoms  respectively. 

Surely  there  is  nothing  unreasonable  in  all  this.  But 
how  does  it  agree  with  the  teachings  of  Scripture?  That 
is  the  question  for  present  consideration.  And  the  first 
thing  that  claims  attention,  is  the  meaning  of  the  word 
Hell.  To  ascertain  this,  we  must  go  to  the  original  lan- 
guages of  the  Bible. 

SHEOL   AND   HADES. 

The  Hebrew  word  translated  Hell,  is  Sheol.  And 
Sheol,  according  to  its  primary  literal  import,  means  the 
under  world,  or  a  vast  subterranean  place  pervaded  by 
thick  darkness.  Hence  this  word  is  sometimes  translated 
the  grave,  as  in  Genesis  xxxvii.  35  ;  xlii.  38.  The  corre 
sponding  Greek  word  is  Hades.  This  has  the  same 
meaning  as  Sheol,  and  is  always  used  instead  of  it  in  the 
Greek  version  of  the  Old  Testament.  And  as  further 
evidence  of  their  identity  of  import,  we  find  the  passage 
from  the  sixteenth  Psalm,  "Thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul 

in  hell "  etc.,  quoted  in  the  Acts  of  the  apostles  (ch.ii.). 
5  D 


SO  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

And  in  the  Old  Testament  the  Hebrew  word  for  Hell  in 
this  passage  is  Sheol,  and  in  the  New  it  is  Hades, — prov- 
ing that  these  words  have  one  and  the  same  meaning. 

Such  being  the  plain  literal  import  of  the  Hebrew 
Sheol,  and  its  Greek  equivalent  Hades,  some  theologians 
have  contended  that  our  English  word  hell  ought  to  be 
restricted  in  its  meaning  to  the  natural  world;  for, 
according  to  the  strictly  literal  import  both  of  the  Greek 
and  Hebrew  word,  it  means  simply  the  grave,  or  a  low  and 
dark  place — a  place  underground;  and  has  no  reference 
whatever  to  the  condition  of  the  wicked  in  the  other 
world,  or  to  anything  beyond  the  natural  realm. 

And  if  the  Bible  is  to  be  literally  interpreted — if  it 
contains  no  meaning  beyond  that  which  lies  upon  the 
surface,  and  which  is  obvious  to  the  merely  natural  or 
sensuous  mind,  these  theologians  certainly  have  the  best 
of  the  argument.  What  answer  can  the  literalist  consist- 
ently give?  For  how,  according  to  his  theory,  is  this 
word  hell  made  to  refer  to  the  condition  of  the  wicked 
in  the  other  world  ?  Why  should  it  not  be  restricted  in 
its  meaning,  to  that  which  it  literally  denotes,  viz.,  the 
grave,  or  a  dark  subterranean  region  ? 

Yet  there  are  insuperable  difficulties  which  those  who 
contend  for  such  a  limitation  of  the  meaning  of  this 
word,  have  to  encounter.  For,  to  be  consistent  in  their 
hermeneutics,  they  should  limit  the  meaning  of  the  term 
heaven  in  precisely  the  same  way.  They  should  insist 
on  restricting  the  meaning  of  this  word  also  to  the  realm 


SHEOL,  HADES,  GEHENNA,  ETC.  5 1 

of  nature ;  and  should  maintain  that  it  has  no  reference 
to  the  condition  of  the  righteous  in  the  other  world — for, 
in  its  obvious  literal  sense  it  has  not. 

The  word  in  the  original  Hebrew,  translated  heaven  in 
our  English  version,  is  shdmayim;  and  the  literal  signifi- 
cation of  this  is,  the  firmament,  or  the  space  above  the 
earth.  It  comes  (so  the  best  linguists  tell  us)  from  an 
obsolete  root,  shdmd,  whose  meaning  in  the  cognate 
Arabic  language  is,  to  be  high,  or  lifted  up.  And  to  this 
Arabic  radical  lexicographers  refer  the  Hebrew  term  as 
denoting  an  elevated  locality — a  high  place.  The  Greek 
equivalent  of  this  Hebrew  word  is  ouranos,  which  is  also 
translated  by  our  English  heaven,  and  means  the  same  as 
shdmayim  ;  that  is,  the  space  above  the  earth,  or  the  vast 
concave  that  surrounds  the  earth.  And  according  to 
most  philologists  it  comes  from  the  Greek  radical  orao, 
which  means  to  see — referring  to  the  space  above  or 
around  the  earth,  where  by  means  of  the  sun's  light 
objects  are  visible. 

We  find,  therefore,  that  the  words  heaven  and  hell, 
which  occur  so  often  in  the  sacred  Volume,  refer — in 
their  plain,  obvious,  literal  sense,  as  gathered  from  the 
Hebrew  and  Greek  terms — to  merely  natural  localities ; 
one,  to  a  place  that  is  high,  or  to  a  region  above  the 
earth,  involving  also  the  idea  or  possibility  of  clear- 
seeing  ;  the  other,  to  a  place  that  is  low,  or  to  a  region 
beneath  the  earth,  involving  also  the  idea  of  darkness, 
or  great  difficulty  in  seeing.     And  if  the  literalists,  or 


5»  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

those  who  deny  that  the  Scripture  everywhere  contains  a 
spiritual  sense,  would  be  consistent,  they  should  restrict 
the  meaning  of  both  these  words  to  the  natural  world — 
and  to  things  without,  not  within  the  soul  of  man.  For 
all  good  Biblical  scholars  know  that  neither  heaven  nor 
hell,  according  to  the  literal  import  of  their  equivalent 
Greek  and  Hebrew  terms,  conveys  an  idea  of  anything 
above  the  realm  of  nature. 

But  there  is  abundant  Scripture  evidence  that  these 
terms  are  not  to  be  thus  restricted  in  their  meaning. 
There  is  evidence  that  they  refer  to  states  and  conditions 
of  two  widely  different  classes  of  people  in  the  spiritual 
world.  Thus  the  seer  of  Patmos  tells  us  of  persons  and 
things  that  he  saw  in  heaven,  when  he  was  "  in  the 
spirit,"  or  when  "a  door  was  opened"  to  him  in 
heaven.  Surely  the  myriads  of  angels  whom  he  beheld, 
were  not  seen  with  his  natural  eyes,  nor  in  that  region  of 
natural  space  above  our  earth.  No  :  John's  spiritual  eyes 
were  opened,  and  this  enabled  him  to  see  the  beings 
and  objects  of  the  spiritual  world. 

The  Apostle  Paul  tells  us  that,  on  a  certain  occasion, 
he  was  "caught  up  to  the  third  heaven,"  and  heard 
there  things  which  natural  language  cannot  express. 
How  "caught  up"?  Was  the  apostle's  material  body 
lifted  through  natural  space  into  the  upper  regions  of 
the  air?  No  one,  I  presume,  believes  this.  No  one  sup- 
poses that  his  corporeal  part  underwent  any  change  of 
place.     No  doubt  there  was  to  the  apostle  the  appearance 


SHEOL,  HADES,  GEHENNA,  ETC.  53 

of  being  suddenly  lifted  up;  but  this  appearance  was 
caused  by,  and  was  in  perfect  correspondence  with,  a 
change  which  took  place  at  that  time  in  the  condition 
of  the  apostle's  own  mind.  It  was  produced  by  a  sudden 
opening  of  his  spiritual  senses  even  to  the  third  degree.* 
No  one  ever  was  or  ever  can  be  carried  to  heaven — the 
heaven  of  which  the  Bible  speaks — by  being  elevated 
bodily  to  the  upper  regions  of  space ; — no,  not  even  if 
he  were  lifted  higher  than  the  stars. 

Then  in  the  parable  of  Dives  and  Lazarus,  we  find  the 
rich  man  represented  as  alive  and  in  hell  after  the  death 
and  burial  of  his  material  body;  which  proves  conclu- 
sively that  the  hell  of  which  the  Bible  speaks,  is  not  any 
region  of  natural  space,  but  the  state  or  condition  of  the 
wicked — and  a  state,  too,  in  which  they  find  themselves 
after  the  death  of  the  body. 

How,  then,  are  we  to  arrive  at  the  true  Scripture  im- 

*  According  to  Swedenborg,  man  is  endowed  with  spiritual  senses, 
which  are  ordinarily  closed  during  his  sojourn  in  the  flesh.  Yet 
these  senses  may  be  and  sometimes  are  opened  during  his  abode  on 
earth ;  and  when  opened,  he  is  intromitted  into  the  spiritual  world, 
and  sees  the  objects  and  hears  the  sounds  of  that  world  as  plainly  as 
with  his  natural  senses  he  sees  and  hears  the  objects  and  sounds 
of  the  natural  world.  And  if  the  spiritual  senses  are  opened  to 
the  third  or  inmost  degree  (for  there  are  three  degrees  to  the  mind 
corresponding  to  the  three  angelic  heavens)  the  individual  is  there- 
by intromitted  into  the  third  or  highest  heaven.  This,  Swedenborg 
tells  us,  is  the  way  in  which  he  was  admitted  into  heaven  while  on 
earth.  And  it  was  the  way  in  which  Paul  was  "  caught  up." 
5* 


54  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

port  of  the  terms  heaven  and  hell? — for  in  their  obvious 
literal  sense,  they  are  both  used  to  designate  natural 
localities — one  a  high  and  illumined,  the  other  a  low  and 
dark  place.  According  to  what  principle  or  law  is  their 
true  meaning  to  be  elicited? 

Swedenborg  answers  this  question,  as  no  one  else  has 
ever  answered  it.  (Let  the  reader,  if  he  would  appre- 
ciate the  full  force  of  the  answer,  bear  in  mind  that  the 
Bible  everywhere  represents  heaven  and  hell  as  opposite 
kingdoms — opposite  as  light  and  darkness,  love  and  hate, 
truth  and  falsity,  righteousness  and  sin,  happiness  and 
misery) — He  tells  us  that  the  written  Word  is  composed 
throughout  upon  the  principle  of  correspondence ;  that, 
between  all  natural  and  spiritual  things,  there  is  a  cor- 
respondence like  that  existing  between  the  body  and  the 
soul ;  and  that  the  Sacred  Scripture,  therefore,  in  each 
and  all  its  parts,  contains  both  a  spiritual  and  a  natural 
sense,  which  stand  related  like  the  spiritual  and  the  nat- 
ural worlds,  or  like  the  soul  and  body  of  man.  The 
spiritual  sense  is  as  the  soul ;  the  natural  sense,  as  the 
body.  As  the  body's  life  is  from  the  indwelling  soul  or 
spirit,  so  the  life  of  every  part  of  the  written  Word  is 
from  the  spiritual  sense.  The  body  of  man  without  the 
soul,  has  no  life ;  neither  is  there  life  in  the  letter  of  the 
Word  when  divorced  from  its  inner  spiritual  meaning. 
It  is  by  virtue  of  their  spiritual  sense  that  the  Lord's 
words  are  spirit  and  life  ;  for  he  says :  "  The  words  that 
I  speak  unto  you,  they  are  spirit  and  they  are  life."     And 


SHEOL,  HADES,  GEHENNA,  ETC.  55 

the  apostle  also  clearly  recognizes  the  same  truth  when 
he  says  :   "  The  letter  kiileth;  but  the  spirit  giveth  life." 

Agreeably  to  this  doctrine  of  the  Sacred  Scripture, 
therefore,  the  words  heaven  and  hell  have  each  a  natural 
sense  such  as  I  have  already  explained,  and  a  spiritual 
sense  with  which  the  natural  corresponds.  Natural  space 
corresponds  to  spiritual  or  mental  state.  Hence  all 
words  of  Scripture,  which  in  their  natural  sense  refer  to 
space,  in  their  spiritual  sense  denote  states  of  the  mind. 
Accordingly  there  is  natural  elevation,  and  spiritual  eleva- 
tion ;  elevation  in  space  and  elevation  in  state.  And  the 
term  heaven,  which  in  its  natural  sense  refers  to  elevation 
in  space,  in  its  spiritual  sense  denotes  elevation  of  state ; 
— that  exalted  condition  of  mind  and  heart,  that  state  of 
clear  perception  of  whatever  is  beautiful  and  true,  and  of 
disinterested  love  for  all  that  is  good  and  right,  in  which 
the  angels  are. 

So,  too,  there  is  natural  lowness,  and  spiritual  lowness ; 
the  former  having  reference  to  space,  the  latter  to  state. 
And  the  term  hell,  which  in  its  natural  sense  denotes  a 
low  place  or  a  region  under  ground,  in  its  spiritual  sense 
denotes  a  low  groveling  state  of  mind ; — that  state  of 
carnal  desire  and  selfish  craving  and  obscure  perception 
and  blunted  moral  sensibility,  in  which  the  devils  are. 

We  often  use  the  words  high  and  low  in  their  spiritual 
sense  in  familiar  discourse ;  and  always  when  we  have 
occasion  to  apply  them  to  moral  or  human  qualities, 
though  in  their  primary  literal   signification  they  have 


5^  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

reference  only  to  natural  space.  We  employ  them  to 
designate  superiority  and  inferiority  of  character,  or  of 
mental  and  moral  attributes.  Thus  we  speak  familiarly 
of  a  high  order  of  intellect,  of  a  ^/^-minded  man,  of 
lofty  souls,  superior  worth,  exalted  wisdom  and  love. 
We  say  of  an  individual  that  he  stands  high  in  the  com- 
munity, high  in  the  church  or  in  the  state,  that  he  is 
above  others,  etc.,  when  our  meaning  is  that  he  is  spirit- 
ually or  mentally  above  them — superior  in  wisdom,  skill, 
integrity,  and  moral  worth.  And  equally  often  in  famil- 
iar discourse  is  the  word  low  used  in  a  similar  way.  As 
when  it  is  said  of  a  mean  and  selfish  man,  that  he  is  a 
person  of  a  low  mjnd,  low  desires,  low  motives,  or  that 
he  is  a  low  fellow.  Indeed,  the  correspondence  between 
the  natural  and  spiritual  import  of  these  terms,  is  so 
obvious  that  it  has  never  been  lost  sight  of.  Every  one 
perceives  it  from  common  influx. 

The  Lord  is  called  the  Most  High  in  Scripture,  and  is 
said  to  dwell  on  high,  above  the  earth,  and  above  the 
heavens.  Surely  it  is  not  with  any  reference  to  natural 
locality  that  such  things  are  predicated  of  the  omnipresent 
One.  No  rational  mind  thinks  of  interpreting  such  lan- 
guage literally ;  for  no  one  thinks  of  localizing  the  Divine 
Being.  He  is  in  all  space — in  the  depths  beneath  as 
truly  as  in  the  heights  above — yet  is  Himself  without 
space.  But  on  account  of  the  infinite  purity  and  excel- 
lence of  his  character — because,  in  respect  to  the  human 
attributes  of  love,  wisdom  and  power,  He  is  infinitely 


SHEOL,  HADES,  GEHENNA,  ETC.  57 

exalted  above  men  and  angels,  He  is  said  to  be  above  all 
the  earth,  above  the  heavens,  the  Most  High,  etc. 

Yes  : — The  Scripture  has  everywhere  a  deeper  meaning 
than  that  of  the  letter.  It  was  given,  not  to  teach  us 
natural  but  spiritual  truth.  And  it  is  by  means  of  the 
law  or  rule  of  correspondence  now  revealed,  that  its  true 
spiritual  meaning  is  to  be  elicited.  Space  corresponds 
to  state.  And  the  words  high  and  low,  therefore,  which 
in  their  natural  sense  refer  to  opposite  regions  of  space, 
in  their  spiritual  sense  denote  opposite  mental  states — 
opposite  kinds  of  love.  The  Lord  is  spiritually  the  Most 
High.  Therefore  those  who  draw  near  to  Him  spirit- 
ually, who  become  like  Him  in  the  spirit  and  temper  of 
their  minds,  are  spiritually  exalted.  And  because  all  the 
angels  are  images  and  likenesses  of  Himself — because 
they  resemble  Him  in  their  love,  wisdom  and  works — 
because  their  affections,  thoughts,  motives,  purposes  are 
all  pure,  noble  and  elevated,  therefore  they  are  said  to 
dwell  on  high ;  or,  what  is  equivalent,  in  heaven. 

And  on  the  other  hand  those  who  are  spiritually  most 
remote  from  the  Lord,  who  are  most  unlike  Him  in  dis- 
position and  character,  whose  aims  are  altogether  selfish, 
whose  affections,  thoughts,  motives  and  actions  are  low 
and  ignoble,  and  contrary  to  the  nature  of  the  Divine 
Love,  and  who  are,  therefore,  in  a  state  the  very  opposite 
to  that  of  the  angels,  are  said  to  dwell  in  a  low  place, 
beneath  the  earth  ;  or  what  is  the  same,  in  helL 

I  have  said,  moreover,  that  the  Greek  word  translated 


58  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

heaven,  involves  the  idea  of  light,  being  derived  from  a 
verb  which  signifies  to  see ;  and  that  the  original  word 
translated  hell,  involves  the  idea  of  darkness,  being 
composed  of  two  words,  which  together  mean  impossible 
to  see,  or  where  one  cannot  see.  Here,  again,  let  that 
magic  Key,  the  law  of  Correspondence,  be  applied ;  and 
observe  the  result. 

Light  and  darkness,  like  all  other  objects,  have  a  two- 
fold signification — an  outer  and  an  inner,  or  a  natural 
and  a  spiritual  meaning.  Light  in  its  natural  sense,  is 
the  light  of  the  natural  world,  which  affects  our  natural 
organs  of  vision.  But  spiritual  light  is  of  a  different 
nature,  though  in  perfect  correspondence  with  the  natural. 
It  is  the  light  of  the  spiritual  world ;  and  although  in  its 
essence  it  is  divine  truth,  it  appears  before  the  eyes  of 
the  angels  as  light.  They  see  by  means  of  it.  This  light 
proceeds  from  the  Lord  who  is  the  Sun  of  the  spiritual 
world — a  Sun  that  appears  to  the  angels  immeasurably 
more  brilliant  than  the  sun  of  our  world  appears  to  us.  It 
is  the  light  of  this  spiritual  Sun  which  illumines  the  minds 
of  both  angels  and  men.  This  is  "  the  true  light  which 
lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world." 

And  as  natural  darkness  is  the  absence  of  natural  light, 
so  spiritual  darkness  is  the  absence  of  spiritual  light. 
But  there  are  two  causes  of  natural  darkness ;  one  is  the 
absence  of  light,  and  the  other  is  a  diseased  state  of 
the  organs  of  vision.  The  darkness  from  the  first  of 
these  causes   is  seldom  of  long  duration;   and  if  the 


SHEOL,  HADES,  GEHENNA,  ETC.  59 

organs  of  vision  are  preserved  in  a  healthy  condition, 
we  shall  be  able  to  see  when  the  light  comes.  But  the 
darkness  produced  by  the  second  cause  is,  indeed,  de- 
plorable. However  brightly  the  light  may  shine,  it  is  (if 
the  eye-sight  be  gone)  as  if  the  sun  were  blotted  out. 
The  brightness  of  noon-day  is  as  midnight  darkness 
to  us. 

So,  likewise,  there  are  two  corresponding  causes  of 
spiritual  darkness.  One  is,  the  absence  of  truth,  or 
spiritual  light.  But  this  kind  of  darkness  may  soon  be 
dispersed.  For  a  person  may  be  ignorant,  and  therefore 
in  spiritual  darkness ;  yet  he  may  preserve  his  mind  in 
such  an  honest  and  healthy  condition,  that  he  will  be 
able  to  understand  and  receive  the  truth  so  soon  as  it  is 
presented  to  him.  But  there  is  another  and  far  more 
deplorable  kind  of  spiritual  darkness.  It  is  that  which 
results  from  disobedience  to  the  known  laws  of  the 
heavenly  life.  It  is  the  darkness  into  which  those  fall, 
who,  under  the  influence  of  selfish  and  evil  loves,  confirm 
themselves  in  various  false  ideas  contrary  to  the  revealed 
Word  of  the  Lord.  Fot  everywhere  and  always  is  it 
true,  that  "he  who  doeth  evil  hateth  the  light,  neither 
cometh  to  the  light  lest  his  deeds  should  be  reproved.* ' 
Persons  who,  under  the  prompting  influence  of  infernal 
loves,  disregard  and  trample  on  the  laws  of  their  inner 
life,  and  so  obscure  their  moral  perceptions,  come  at  last 
to  hate  the  light  of  truth,  and  shun  it  as  owls  and  bats 
shun  the  light  of  day.     Their  understanding  becomes 


60  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

diseased  ;  their  mental  eye,  adjusted  to  error.  And  how- 
ever bright  the  truth  may  shine,  they  do  not  see  it.  To 
them  it  appears  as  falsity.  They  "  put  darkness  for  light 
and  light  for  darkness.' '  Therefore  the  Lord  says :  "  If 
thine  eye  be  single  [or  more  correctly,  sound,  healthy] 
thy  whole  body  shall  be  full  of  light ;  but  if  thine  eye  be 
evil  [i.  e.,  #;/-sound,  diseased],  thy  whole  body  shall  be 
full  of  darkness.  If,  therefore,  the  light  that  is  in  thee 
be  darkness,  how  great  is  that  darkness |M  Matt.  vi. 
22,  23. 

Agreeably  to  this,  Swedenborg  often  tells  us  that  the 
denizens  of  heaven  dwell  in  light  inconceivably  more 
brilliant  than  the  light  of  this  world ;  while  those  in 
hell  live  in  great  darkness — for  their  understandings  are 
darkened  by  innumerable  falsities  originating  in  evil 
lusts.  Milton  had  a  perception  of  this  great  truth  when 
he  sang : 

"  He  that  hath  light  within  his  own  clear  breast, 
May  sit  in  the  centre  and  enjoy  bright  day ; 
But  he  that  hides  a  dark  soul  and  foul  thoughts, 
Benighted  walks  under  the  mid-day  sun, 
Himself  is  his  own  dungeon." 

There  is  a  great  darkness  within  all  evil  spirits,  and  this 
produces  the  darkness  without;  for  in  the  other  world 
everything  without  is  but  the  reflection,  under  the  great 
law  of  correspondence,  of  the  state  or  quality  of  life 
within.     But  evil  spirits  do  not  appear  to  themselves  to 


SIIEOL,  HADES,  GEHENNA,  ETC.  6l 

be  in  such  darkness  as  they  really  are.  Neither  do  evil 
men,  whose  understandings  are  darkened  by  falsities 
originating  in  evil  loves.  They  even  imagine*  themselves 
in  clearer  light  than  others.  And  so  do  the  devils  think 
they  see  far  better  than  the  angels.  But  their  light  is  the 
light  of  fatuity — the  dim  (yet  mercifully  accommodated) 
light  of  perverted  natures — which,  compared  with  the 
light  that  shines  in  heaven,  is  as  the  light  from  ignited 
coals  compared  with  the  splendor  of  the  noon-day  sun. 

From  what  has  been  said,  and  from  the  correspond- 
ence of  light  and  darkness,  we  may  see  why  the  Divine 
Saviour — the  embodiment  and  living  manifestation  of 
the  Truth — calls  himself  "  the  light  of  the  world  M  ;  and 
why  He  says  to  those  who  had  not  previously  known  the 
truth,  but  had  nevertheless  kept  themselves  in  a  state  to 
receive  it,  "They  that  sit  in  darkness  and  in  the  shadow 
of  death,  upon  them  hath  the  light  shined."  We  may 
see  also  why  it  is  said  that  "  God  is  light,  and  in  Him  is 
no  darkness  at  all";  and  of  the  wicked,  that  "they 
walk  in  darkness,"  and  will  finally  be  "cast  into  the 
outer  darkness  where  there  is  weeping  and  gnashing  of 
teeth." 

All  who  do  not,  while  here  on  earth,  resist  and  over- 
come their  evil  loves,  find  themselves  in  that  "outer 
darkness  "  when  they  enter  the  other  world  ;  for  through 
the  indulgence  of  their  evil  lusts  they  shut  out  the  light 
of  God  and  the  things  of  his  wisdom  from  their  minds. 
They  are,   therefore,    excluded    from   the   kingdom   of 


62  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

heaven,  having  no  heaven,  and  no  love  for  the  things 
which  constitute  heaven,  in  their  hearts.  Whatever 
truths  they  have  ever  known,  they  now  reject  and  turn 
away  from,  because  such  truths  condemn  their  evil  loves. 
And  so  they  immerse  themselves  altogether  in  falsities, 
for  these  are  in  agreement  with  their  evils.  Hence 
there  are  endless  strifes  and  bickerings  among  them ;  for 
each  one  fights  for  his  own  falsity,  and  calls  it  truth. 
And  the  jarring  discord  and  angry  disputes  among  those 
who  are  in  falsities,  joined  also  with  mutual  hatred, 
derision  and  contempt,  are  what  the  gnashing  of  teeth 
corresponds  to,  and  what  it,  therefore,  spiritually  denotes. 

GEHENNA   AND   THE   LAKE   OF   FIRE. 

But  the  Bible  speaks  of  a  fire  fh  the  great  Hereafter — 
of  the  fire  of  hell,  the  everlasting  fire,  a  furnace  of  fire, 
a  lake  burning  with  fire  and  brimstone,  etc.  And  in 
this  hell-fire,  or  lake  of  fire,  it  is  said  that  the  wicked 
will  have  their  part.  And  the  rich  man  in  the  parable  is 
represented  as  saying,  "  I  am  tormented  in  this  fiame  ;  M — 
and  this,  after  he  had  died  and  was  buried. 

I  presume  few  intelligent  Christians  now-a-days  think 
of  interpreting  such  language  according  to  the  strict 
sense  of  the  letter — as  it  was  interpreted  a  hundred  years 
ago.  They  will  tell  you  that  this  language  is  figurative, 
though  none  of  them  may  be  able  to  tell  precisely  what 
was  meant  to  be  conveyed  by  it.  But  Swedenborg,  in 
his  great  doctrine  of  Correspondence,  has  furnished  the 


SHEOL,  HADES,  GEHENNA,  ETC,  63 

true  key  to  its  meaning.     He  has  given  us  the  spiritual  _ 
meaning  of  hell-fire,  or  the  Gehenna  of  fire,  and  told  us 
what  it  is  in  the  human  soul  that  fire  corresponds  to. 

But  as  the  literal  sense  is  the  foundation  of  the  spir- 
itual, it  is  necessary  always  to  give  careful  attention  to 
this  first. 

In  the  original  Greek,  Gehenna  is  the  word  translated 
hell,  where  the  fire  of  hell,  or  the  hell  of  fire,  is  spoken  of. 
And  Gehenna  is  a  Hebrew  word  transplanted  into  the 
Greek,  with  but  little  variation  in  its  form.  It  is  composed 
of  two  other  Hebrew  words,  Gat  or  Ge,  which  means  a 
valley,  and  Hinnom,  the  name  of  a  man.  The  literal 
meaning,  therefore,  of  Gehenna  is,  the  valley  of  Hinnom. 
This  valley  was  south-east  of,  and  near  to,  Jerusalem. 
The  brook  Kedron  ran  through  it.  Here  the  Jews  at 
one  time  practiced  the  most  impious  idolatry.  They 
had  an  image  dedicated  to  Moloch,  to  which  they  offered 
in  sacrifice  not  only  bulls,  lambs,  rams,  etc.,  but  even 
their  own  children,  who  were  placed  in  the  arms  of  the 
image  previously  heated  by  a  fire  within,  and  thus  were 
quickly  destroyed.  On  this  account  the  place  subse- 
quently came  to  be  regarded  with  such  abhorrence,  that 
it  was  made  the  common  receptacle  of  all  the  filth  and 
rubbish  of  the  city.  The  dead  bodies  of  animals  as 
well  as  of  the  most  notorious  criminals,  were  there 
thrown  into  one  common  heap.  And  a  fire  was  kept 
continually  burning  to  prevent  the  atmosphere  from  be- 
coming pestilential — the  worms,  meanwhile,  reveling  in 


64  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

a  luxurious  repast  upon  the  remains  of  the  rubbish  which 
the  fire  failed  to  consume. 

Here  we  have  the  primary,  literal  signification  of  the 
Gehenna  of  fire,  which  our  translators  have  rendered  hell- 
fire.  It  means  the  fire  that  burned  in  that  loathsome 
valley  of  Hinnom.  And  as  the  last  punishment  and  dis- 
grace of  condemned  criminals  was,  to  cast  their  dead 
bodies  into  that  valley  or  that  fire,  the  place  came  to  be 
used  as  an  appropriate  symbol  of  the  condition  of  those 
in  the  other  world,  who  had  violated,  and  persisted  in 
violating,  the  laws  of  eternal  love  and  justice  revealed 
in  the  Divine  Word. 

But  what  is  the  precise  spiritual  meaning  of  this  hell- 
fire,  or  Gehenna  of  fire,  as  elicited  by  Swedenborg's 
grand  Key — the  rule  of  Correspondence?  And  we 
must  never  forget  that  the  spiritual  meaning  of  Scripture, 
if  we  can  ascertain  what  that  really  is,  is  its  true  mean- 
ing. For  the  Lord  has  himself  declared  that  his  words 
"are  spirit  and  life." 

What,  then,  is  the  spiritual  correspondent  of  fire? 
Swedenborg  answers,  "Love."  Love,  he  says,  is  spirit- 
ual fire  or  heat.  Love  is  life;  and  every  man,  therefore, 
has  some  kind  of  love,  because  he  has  life.  To  wholly 
deprive  him  of  love,  would  be  to  extinguish  the  vital 
spark — yes,  to  annihilate  him.  Love  is  the  motive 
power  in  whatever  a  man  thinks,  wills,  says  or  does. 
As  heat  is  the  proximate  cause  of  all  activity,  germina- 
tion, expansion  and  growth  in  the  natural  world,  so  love 


SHEOL,  HADES,  GEHENNA,  ETC.  65 

is  the  cause  of  all  activity,  germination,  expansion  and 
growth  in  the  moral  or  spiritual  realm.  Deprived  of  all 
love,  a  man  would  be  like  the  earth  deprived  of  all  heat 
— unproductive  and  dead.  While  the  more  passionately 
he  loves  any  object  or  being — it  may  be  a  woman,  it 
may  be  wealth,  it  may  be  literary  or  scientific  fame,  it 
may  be  civil  or  military  glory — the  more  alive  and 
active  he  is.  See  how  the  lower  kinds  of  love — the 
purely  selfish  and  worldly — the  love  of  gold  or  glory, 
incite  men  to  days  of  toil  and  nights  of  watchfulness ! 
And  the  higher  and  nobler  kinds — loves  purer  and  more 
angelic — are  the  springs  of  action  in  all  men's  higher 
and  nobler  achievements,  in  all  deeds  done  to  improve 
and  bless  mankind.  Take  away  all  love  from  human 
hearts,  and  what  would  men  do  then  ?  And  the  less  pas- 
sionately one  loves,  the  more  sluggish  he  is  in  thought  and 
action — the  less  is  he  alive.  So  obvious  is  it  that  love  is 
the  quickener  and  enlivener  of  the  human  soul,  the  very 
fire  of  every  man's  life.  And  the  character  of  each  one, 
therefore,  or  the  quality  of  his  life,  is  according  to  the 
nature  of  this  fire. 

The  correspondence  between  natural  and  spiritual  fire, 
or  natural  and  spiritual  heat,  is  placed  beyond  a  doubt 
when  we  reflect  upon  the  fact  that  the  body  grows  warm 
in  proportion  as  any  kind  of  love  is  enkindled  or  inten- 
sified in  the  soul.  The  love  may  be  impure  and  devil- 
ish, such  as  those  feel  who  are  full  of  anger  or  revenge ; 

still  it  produces  bodily  heat;  the  face  reddens  and  the 
6*  E 


66  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

circulation  is  quickened.  Again,  the  body  grows  cold 
as  love  departs,  or  as  its  activity  ceases.  All  of  which 
proves  that  there  exists,  between  natural  heat  or  fire  and 
spiritual  heat  or  love,  a  relation  like  that  between  cause 
and  effect.  And  this  kind  of  relation  is  what  Sweden- 
borg  means  by  Correspondence. 

It  is  for  the  same  reason,  also,  that  the  bodies  of  chil- 
dren and  young  persons  are  usually  warmer  than  those 
of  the  aged.  They  have  more  love  in  their  hearts,  or 
their  love  is  more  active ;  and  this  quickens  the  circula- 
tion of  their  blood.  For  a  similar  reason,  again,  we  call 
persons  whose  hearts  are  full  of  love  and  sympathy, 
warm-hearted ;  and  those  who  seem  to  have  no  love  for 
anybody,  cold-hearted.  Then  how  often  do  we  hear 
Christians  pray  that  the  Lord  would  kindle  in  their  hearts 
a  heavenly  fire !  And  sometimes  they  pray  that  He 
would  warm  them  with  his  love.  For  the  same  reason 
we  hear  it  said  of  an  angry  man,  especially  if  his  anger 
breaks  forth  in  deeds  of  violence,  that  he  is  inflamed, 
burns  with  anger,  is  all  on  fire,  etc.  And  does  not  the 
internal  fire  at  such  times  manifest  itself  in  the  counte- 
nance as  well  as  in  the  gestures  and  tones  of  the  voice  ? 

Furthermore,  the  wise  man  says:  "A  hot  mind  is  a 
burning  fire."  And  the  inspired  Psalmist  calls  the  Lord 
"a  consuming  fire"  ;  and  says  that  "a  fire  goeth  before 
Him,  and  burneth  up  his  enemies  round  about  Him.M 
Does  any  one  believe  that  the  Lord  is  literally  a  con- 
suming fire?  or  that  He  literally  burns  up  his  enemies? 


SHEOL,  HADES,  GEHENNA,  ETC,  6j 

No :  This  language,  like  all  of  the  inspired  Word,  is 
the  language  of  correspondence.  It  contains  a  spiritual 
meaning.  And  in  this,  which  is  its  true  meaning,  it  ex- 
presses the  intensity  of  the  Divine  Love,  and  its  effect 
upon  the  wicked.  Those  who  are  in  states  of  opposition 
to  the  Lord,  change  his  love  in  themselves  into  its  oppo- 
site; just  as  the  deadly  night-shade  changes  the  sweet 
dews  and  sunshine  into  poison.  They  cannot  receive 
his  love  as  it  is,  because  of  their  own  state.  They  feel  it 
as  something  wrathful,  fiery,  burning.  To  them  it  is  as  a 
consuming  fire ;  for  they  change  its  nature  at  the  moment 
of  receiving  it.  In  its  origin  all  love  is  pure  and  good  ; 
for  it  is  all  from  Him  who  is  Love  itself.  But  its  quality 
or  nature  is  changed  in  the  recipient  subjects.  {See  Swe- 
denb  org's  Heaven  and  Hell>  n.  569.) 

Now  there  are  in  general  two  very  different  and  even 
opposite  kinds  of  love.  There  is  a  love  of  the  Lord  and 
the  neighbor,  which  is  good ;  and  there  is  a  love  of  self 
and  the  world,  which,  when  it  reigns  supreme  in  the 
heart,  is  evil,  and  prompts  to  all  kinds  of  wickedness. 
And  one  or  the  other  of  these  loves  bears  rule  in  every 
man,  spirit,  or  angel,  and  constitutes  the  very  fire  of  his 
life.  Good  men  and  angelic  spirits  live  in  the  former, 
and  wicked  men  and  evil  spirits  live  in  the  latter  kind 
of  love.  There  is,  therefore,  a  heavenly  and  a  hellish 
love ;  or,  speaking  in  the  language  of  correspondence, 
there  is  a  heavenly  fire  and  a  hell  fire — the  term  fire  de- 
noting the  love  or  delight  which  constitutes  the  life. 


68  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

"Infernal  fire,"  says  Swedenborg,  "is  the  love  of 
self  and  the  world ;  therefore  it  is  every  lust  which 
springs  from  these  loves ;  for  lust  is  love  in  its  continuity, 
since  a  man  continually  lusts  after  what  he  loves ;  and 
it  is  likewise  delight,  for  what  a  man  loves  or  lusts 
after,  he  perceives  as  delightful  when  he  obtains  it ;  nor 
is  heart-felt  delight  communicated  to  him  from  any  other 
source. 

"  Infernal  fire,  therefore,  is  the  lust  and  delight  which 
spring  from  the  love  of  self  and  the  world  as  from  their 
fountain.  The  evils  originating  in  these  two  loves,  are 
contempt  of  others,  enmity  and  hostility  against  those 
who  do  not  favor  them,  envy,  hatred  and  revenge,  and 
as  a  consequence  of  these,  savageness  and  cruelty.  And 
in  regard  to  the  Divine,  they  consist  in  the  denial,  and 
hence  in  the  contempt,  mocking,  and  reviling  of  the  holy 
things  belonging  to  the  church ;  and  after  death,  when 
man  becomes  a  spirit,  these  evils  are  turned  into  anger 
and  hatred  against  those  holy  things.  .  .  .  These  are  the 
things  signified  by  fire  in  the  Word,  where  the  wicked 
and  the  hells  are  treated  of." — Heaven  and  Hell,  n.  570. 

The  supreme  love  of  self,  therefore,  according  to  the 
New  Theology,  together  with  all  the  unholy  passions  and 
malignant  feelings  which  proceed  from  it,  and  the  infer- 
nal delight  felt  in  the  indulgence  of  filthy  lusts,  is  what 
is  meant  by  hell-fire  in  the  true  spiritual  sense.  This  is 
what  the  Gehenna  of  fire  corresponds  to  ;  for  the  delight 
arising  from  the  gratification  of  mean,  base,  and  purely 


SHEOL,  HADES,  GEHENNA,  ETC.  69 

selfish  desires,  is  a  flame  supported  by  that  heap  of  spirit- 
ual filth  and  rubbish,  which  renders  the  heart  of  man 
unclean. 

From  what  has  now  been  said,  the  meaning  of  that 
"lake  of  fire  burning  with  brimstone* '  spoken  of  in  the 
Revelation,  in  which  "the  fearful,  and  unbelieving,  and 
abominable,  and  murderers,  and  whoremongers,  and  sor- 
cerers, and  idolaters,  and  all  liars"  shall  have  their  part, 
is  sufficiently  obvious.  Brimstone  corresponds  to  the 
filthy  lusts  of  the  natural  man.  These,  through  un- 
bridled indulgence,  feed  and  support  the  flame  of  infer- 
nal love,  as  brimstone  feeds  and  supports  the  flame  of 
natural  fire.     Such  lusts  are  spiritual  brimstone. 

Those,  therefore,  who  are  immersed  in  evil  concupis- 
cences originating  in  the  love  of  self,  are  in  precisely 
the  state  which  corresponds  to  being  in  a  "  lake  that  burn- 
etii with  fire  and  brimstone.' '  Such  a  lake  is  a  perfect 
symbol,  framed  under  the  law  of  correspondence,  of  the 
spiritual  condition  of  the  wicked.  Hence  it  is  said  that, 
in  the  great  Hereafter,  they  will  have  their  part  in  this 
lake.  They  are  in  it  now  and  here,  but  not  so  entirely 
as  they  will  be  then  and  there. 

But  a  smoke  is  said  to  issue  from  that  lake.  "The 
smoke  of  their  torment  ascendeth  up  for  ever  and  ever.  ' 
What  does  this  mean  ? 

If  the  fire  and  the  bri?nstone  are  not  to  be  literally  in- 
terpreted, neither  is  the  smoke.     If  the  former  are  sym- 


70  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

bols  of  something  spiritual,  the  latter  should  be  so  like- 
wise.    And  so,  indeed,  it  is. 

We  know  it  is  the  tendency  of  all  infernal  passions 
and  propensities  originating  in  the  love  of  self,  to  darken 
the  understanding  in  spiritual  things; — to  obscure  our 
perceptions  of  what  is  just  and  true  and  good.  While 
the  more  unselfish  a  man  is,  the  more  reverently  he  heeds 
the  still  small  voice  within  him,  the  more  earnestly  he 
strives  to  do  the  will  of  the  Heavenly  Father,  the  clearer 
becomes  his  moral  vision,  the  keener  his  perception  of 
the  true  and  right  upon  questions  involving  the  higher 
and  more  permanent  interests  of  humanity.  Hence  we 
read :  "If  thine  eye  be  single,  thy  whole  body  shall  be 
full  of  light ;  but  if  thine  eye  be  evil,  thy  whole  body 
shall  be  full  of  darkness. "  "If  any  man  will  do  his 
will,  he  shall  know  of  the  doctrine  whether  it  be  from 
God."  "He  that  doeth  truth,  cometh  to  the  light." 
Which  texts  conspire  to  prove  that  purity  of  purpose  and 
the  faithful  doing  of  the  truth,  are  indispensable  to  clear- 
ness of  mental  vision  upon  subjects  of  profoundest  in- 
terest. But  where  the  love  of  self  is  supreme,  and  there 
is  no  regard  for  God  or  duty,  and  no  respect  for  the 
great  laws  of  love  and  justice,  there  the  understanding 
is  darkened ;  there  the  moral  perceptions  are  obscured, 
and  the  true  and  right  are  not  seen.  As  saith  the  in- 
spired penman:  "The  sun  and  the  air  are  darkened  by 
the  smoke  of  the  abyss." 

From  this  we  may  see  what  is  meant  in  the  spiritual 


SHEOLy  HADES,  GEHENNA,  ETC,  7 1 

sense  by  "the  smoke  of  the  pit,"  and  the  smoke  that 
"ascendeth  up  for  ever  and  ever."  It  is  that  darkened 
understanding,  that  mental  obscurity  which  results  from 
the  fire  of  a  supremely  selfish  love,  which  is  the  fire  of 
hell.  And  in  the  other  world  where  all  outward  appear- 
ances correspond  to  internal  states,  a  cloud  of  smoke 
actually  appears  round  about  infernal  societies  when  they 
are  seen  in  heavenly  light. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  doctrine  announced  by  Sweden- 
borg  concerning  the  nature  of  hell,  however  it  differs 
from  the  literal  teaching  of  the  Bible,  is  in  perfect  agree- 
ment with  the  teaching  of  its  spiritual  sense.  No  candid 
mind  can  deny  that  it  is,  indeed,  the  very  doctrine  of 
the  Bible  on  this  subject,  and  in  harmony  with  the  whole 
scope  of  its  teaching  as  well  as  with  all  we  know  of  the 
wisdom  of  God  and  the  nature  of  man. 

Then  look  at  its  obvious,  practical  tendency.  By 
showing  hell  to  be  a  state  instead  of  a  place,  it  teaches 
every  one  to  look  within  himself,  at  his  own  heart ;  to 
examine  carefully  his  dominant  love,  his  ends  and  aims  in 
life,  his  ruling  principles  of  action.  It  teaches  us,  more- 
over, what  that  state  is :  and  that  those,  and  those  only, 
go  to  hell,  who  carry  in  their  bosoms  the  loves  that  rule 
in  hell ;  and  therefore  that  those  only  escape  it,  who 
resist  and  overcome  these  loves.  It  shows  us  that  only 
those  shun  hell,  who  shun  as  sins  against  God  the  indul- 
gence of  the  dispositions  and  lovesoj^eiy— who  shun, 

y^y^  OF  IHJ5  ^ 

¥  W  <M  «%    fS  ■ 


72  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

from  religious  principle,  all  wicked  arts  and  devices,  all 
base  and  dishonest  actions,  all  falsehood,  fraud,  deceit, 
♦  revenge  and  hate,  all  dispositions  and  actions  that  tend 
to  separate  us  from  God  and  heaven  and  bring  us  into 
fellowship  with  devils.  It  teaches  further,  that  if  we  do 
not,  here  on  earth,  strive  to  do  the  Heavenly  Father's 
will,  and  so  vanquish  within  us  the  loves  of  hell,  we 
shall  carry  those  loves  with  us  into  the  other  world, 
where  they  will  burst  forth  with  quenchless  rage. 

Thus  the  practical  tendency  of  this  doctrine  is  good, 
and  only  good.  It  tends  to  make  men  less  regardful  of 
self,  and  more  regardful  of  God  and  duty; — more 
honest  and  sincere  in  their  conduct,  more  kind  and 
generous  in  their  feelings,  more  correct  in  their  prin- 
ciples, more  exalted  in  their  aims,  more  pure  in  heart 
and  life. 


HELL— THE     CHOSEN    HOME     OF    ALL     WHO     GO 
THERE. 

*  I  ^HAT  the  reasonableness  and  truth  of  the  New  doc- 
*  trine  of  hell  may  be  more  apparent,  and  the  sharp 
contrast  between  it  and  the  Old  be  more  clearly  seen — 
as  well  as  its  consistency  with  the  perfect  wisdom  and 
love  of  God,  something  more  must  be  said  about  that 
essential  element  of  our  humanity — freedom. 

We  have  seen  that  the  Old  doctrine  is  based  upon  the 
literal  teaching  of  Scripture  wholly  divorced  from  its 
living  spirit ;  and  that  it  is  in  harmony  with  the  sensuous 
conceptions  and  sensuous  philosophy  of  a  by-gone  Age ; 
while  the  New  is  eminently  spiritual,  in  strict  accord 
with  the  spirit  of  the  Word,  and  with  the  highest  spiritual 
conceptions  of  the  most  enlightened  minds  of  this  New 
Age.  The  Old  makes  hell  a  place,  and  the  casting  into 
it  a  purely  arbitrary  and  willful  act  of  Omnipotence; 
the  New  declares  it  to  be  a  certain  state  of  life  which 
each  individual  forms  or  develops  for  himself  through 
the  voluntary  abuse  of  his  own  freedom  and  rationality. 

Every  one,  therefore,  who  goes  to  hell,  goes  there  as 
r  73 


74  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

freely  as  the  tippler  goes  to  the  gin-shop,  or  the  profli- 
gate to  the  brothel. 

Here  is  one  born,  we  will  suppose,  and  living  in  a 
miserable,  barren,  dreary  region,  where  there  is  little  to 
delight  the  eye  or  regale  the  senses.  Yonder  is  a  rich 
and  fertile  country,  charming  to  look  upon,  abounding 
in  fruits  and  flowers,  singing  birds  and  running  brooks, 
splendid  habitations  and  magnificent  gardens,  with 
everything  therein  that  can  charm  or  gratify  the  senses. 
But  the  way  to  that  beautiful  country  is  over  a  rough  road 
— across  deep  ravines  and  miry  places — and  sometimes 
through  turbulent  waters  and  up  steep  and  slippery  ac- 
clivities. But  there  is  no  other  road  to  that  delightful 
region.  Whoever  would  take  up  his  abode  there,  must 
encounter  all  the  difficulties  of  the  way.  He  must  climb 
the  precipices,  and  wade  the  bogs,  and  wallow  through 
the  miry  places,  and  ford  the  swiftly  running  streams. 

And  the  dweller  in  the  desert,  we  will  suppose,  knows 
all  this.  Now  he  may  have  his  choice  : — he  may  remain 
in  the  dreary  region  where  he  was  born,  or,  if  he  is  will- 
ing to  endure  the  hardships  of  the  journey,  he  may  go 
to  yonder  region  so  rich  and  fair,  and  snuff  its  balmy 
breezes  for  the  remainder  of  his  life,  and  gaze  upon  its 
beautiful  scenery,  and  inhale  its  sweet  perfumes  and  taste 
its  delicious  fruits.  The  choice  is  offered  him  ;  and  he  is 
free  to  choose.  He  may  stay  where  he  is,  or  go  to  the 
land  of  beauty  and  promise.  But  if  he  goes,  he  must 
endure  all  the  fatigues  and   hardships  of  the  journey. 


THE   CHOSEN  HOME,   ETC,  75 

He  must  accept  the  conditions,  else  he  can  never  reach 
there.  The  proprietor  of  the  country  uses  no  compul- 
sion. He  simply  says:  There  it  lies;  and  this  is  the 
way  to  it;  and  there  is  no  other.  Go  or  stay,  as  you 
please.  But  remember,  the  going  involves  labor  and 
hardship.  If  you  are  willing  to  endure  these,  that  beau- 
tiful country,  or  as  much  of  it  as  you  desire,  shall  be 
yours  forever. 

Let  this  desert  region  represent  man's  natural  state, 
and  the  beautiful  country  yonder,  the  state  which  he  is 
made  capable  of  attaining  through  spiritual  labor  and 
conflict  with  the  foes  of  his  own  household,  and  the  illus- 
tration is  complete.  By  rising  out  of  or  migrating  from 
that  state  of  life  denoted  by  hell,  we  come  into  the  state 
denoted  by  heaven.  It  is  not  by  any  change  of  place, 
nor  through  any  exercise  of  immediate  Divine  mercy 
that  this  is  effected.  It  is  a  purely  spiritual  migration. 
It  is  a  passing  out  of  a  low  or  exterior  spiritual  condition, 
into  a  higher  or  more  interior  one. 

And  though  this  change  of  state  is  as  much  a  matter  of 
the  individual's  own  volition  as  an  act  of  natural  migra- 
tion, or  a  change  of  natural  locality,  and  cannot,  indeed, 
take  place  without  the  exercise  of  his  own  free  choice, 
yet  it  has  its  laws  or  conditions ;  and  without  the  observ- 
ance of  these  the  change  cannot  be  effected.  And  no 
one  can  be  forced  to  comply  with  the  conditions.  He  is 
left  to  his  own  free  choice.  He  may  remain  in  Egypt, 
and  delve  there  under  the  lash  of  his  old  task-masters, 


76  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

and  get  what  comfort  he  can  from  the  flesh-pots ;  or  he 
may  (if  he  choose)  leave  that  country,  and  go  to  the  land 
of  promise — "a  land  of  brooks  of  water,  of  fountains 
and  depths  that  spring  out  of  valleys  and  hills;  a  land 
of  wheat  and  barley  and  vines  and  fig-trees  and  pome- 
granates; a  land  of  oil — olive  and  honey.1 ' 

But  if  he  choose  the  latter  course,  he  voluntarily  places 
himself  under  the  Lord's  government  and  guidance,  and 
may  expect  at  times  the  chastening  hand  of  paternal 
love  to  keep  him  in  the  right  way.  "Thou  shalt  also 
consider  in  thine  heart,  that,  as  a  man  chasteneth  his  son, 
so  the  Lord  thy  God  chasteneth  thee."  He  must  endure 
all  the  perils  and  hardships  of  the  journey.  He  must  go 
"  through  that  terrible  wilderness,  wherein  are  fiery 
serpents  and  scorpions  and  drought — where  there  is  no 
water." 

But  multitudes  choose  to  remain  and  do  remain  in 
Egypt.  They  are  not  willing  to  accept  the  conditions 
on  which  alone  they  can  rise  out  of  their  natural  into  a 
heavenly  state  of  life.  They  are  not  willing  to  deny 
self,  take  up  the  cross,  and  follow  the  Lord  in  the  regen- 
eration. They  are  not  willing  to  deny  themselves  the 
indulgence  of  their  selfish  and  inordinately  greedy  pro- 
pensities. They  have  no  desire  and  make  no  effort  to 
overcome  these  propensities,  or  to  bring  them  into  due 
subjection  to  higher  and  nobler  loves.  They  prefer 
to  follow  the  bent  of  their  inclinations,  and  to  do  as 


THE   CHOSEN  HOME,  ETC.  ft 

their  pride  and  love  of  self  and  greed  of  gain  and  lust 
of  power  prompt. 

Multitudes  of  this  class  pass  from  the  natural  into  the 
spiritual  world  every  year.  Some  of  them  ultimate  their 
supreme  selfishness  here,  in  words  and  deeds  befit- 
ting devils ; — in  falsehood,  fraud,  theft,  blasphemy,  adul- 
tery, murder  and  other  abominations.  But  some  of  them 
are,  outwardly,  quite  respectable  people.  Some  of  them 
are  members  of  churches — professedly  very  religious ;  and 
at  times,  when  they  have  some  selfish  end  to  serve,  they 
are  (on  the  outside,  at  least)  kind  and  benevolent.  But 
inwardly,  at  heart,  they  are  supremely  selfish.  It  is  this 
class  (and  they  are  to  be  found  among  Christians  to- 
day, as  certainly  as  they  were  among  the  Jews  eighteen 
hundred  years  ago)  whom  our  Lord  addresses  when  He 
says:  "For  ye  are  like  unto  whited  sepulchres,  which 
indeed  appear  beautiful  outward,  but  are  within  full  of 
dead  men's  bones  and  of  all  uncleanness.  Even  so  ye 
also,  outwardly,  appear  righteous  unto  men,  but  within  ye 
are  full  of  hypocrisy  and  iniquity."  Every  one's  real 
character  depends  on  the  quality  of  his  heart — on  the 
nature,  that  is,  of  his  ruling  love.  All  whose  ruling  love 
is  the  love  of  self,  are  devils  at  heart,  though  they  may 
be  saints  to  outward  appearance. 

Now  the  Lord  does  not  desire  to  punish  these  people 

in  any  way— either  in  this  world  or  in  the  world  to  come. 

He  does  not  desire  that  they  should  suffer,  nor  permit 

them  to  suffer,  except  for  their  own  ultimate  good.     He 

7* 


78  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

forever  desires  to  improve  their  condition,  and  perpet- 
ually works  toward  this  end.  But  He  cannot  overcome 
their  inordinate  self-love  without  their  willing  co-opera- 
tion. Before  He  can  do  this,  they  must  recognize  this 
love  as  essential  evil  when  it  is  allowed  the  mastery,  and 
must  compel  themselves  to  deny  its  cravings  and  to  obey 
the  laws  of  neighborly  love.  So  far  is  the  Lord  from 
hating  these  people,  or  from  any  desire  that  they  should 
suffer  one  atom  beyond  what  He  knows  will  be  for  their 
own  good,  He  pursues  them  with  his  infinitely  wise  and 
pitying  love,  in  the  other  world  as  He  had  previously 
pursued  them  in  this. 

On  their  first  entrance  into  the  spiritual  world,  they 
find  themselves  attended  and  cared  for  by  wise  and  loving 
angels.  And  the  angels  remain  with  them  and  perform 
for  them  every  kind  office  in  their  power,  so  long  as 
their  company  is  agreeable,  or  so  long  as  the  new-comers 
are  willing  that  they  should  remain.  But  soon  their  in- 
terior selfishness  becomes  active.  Their  internals  come 
forth  into  their  externals.  Their  devilish  dispositions 
and  feelings  manifest  themselves  in  corresponding  looks, 
words  and  actions.  Their  interior  and  real  character 
throws  off  whatever  mask  it  had  previously  worn  on 
earth,  and  reveals  itself  as  it  really  is.  The  previously 
hidden  or  concealed  quality  of  their  hearts  comes  out 
there,  and  is  openly  and  fully  revealed.  Agreeably  to 
these  words  of  the  Lord  :  "  For  there  is  nothing  covered 
that  shall  not  be  revealed,  neither  hid  that  shall  not  be 


THE   CHOSEN  HOME,  ETC.  79 

known."  Their  externals  are  brought  into  perfect  agree- 
ment with  their  internals;  and  they  show  by  their  looks, 
tones,  words  and  actions,  just  what  they  are.  They  no 
longer  have  a  divided  mind ;  but  they  appear  outwardly 
just  what  they  are  inwardly.  The  avenues  in  their  souls 
through  which  they  had  previously  held  some  communi 
cation  with  heaven,  or  retained  some  perception  of 
heavenly  things,  are  all  closed — closed  in  tender  mercy 
to  them. 

Is  it  not  infinitely  better  for  a  wolf,  that  he  be  wolf 
all  through,  from  inmosts  to  outmosts?  Suppose  the 
wolf  possessed  a  kind  of  human  internal,  which  enabled 
him  to  see  the  dreadful  ferocity  and  cruelty  of  his  na- 
ture, and  filled  him  with  keenest  self-reproach  every  time 
he  invaded  the  sheep-fold.  Suppose  he  were  human  in- 
side, but  wolf  outside ;  yet  the  wolfish  propensities  were 
so  strong  and  overmastering  that  they  could  not  be  held 
in  check.  Can  we  not  see  what  unutterable  misery  that 
poor  creature  would  endure  ? 

It  is  from  tenderest  mercy  to  the  selfish  and  inwardly 
evil,  therefore,  that,  in  the  great  Hereafter  the  heavens 
of  their  minds  are  closed;  that  their  moral  sense,  or 
their  perception  of  right  and  wrong,  is  completely  be- 
numbed or  lost ;  and  that  their  externals  are  reduced  to 
a  state  of  perfect  agreement  with  their  internals.  When 
this  takes  place,  they  no  longer  desire  to  remain  in  com- 
pany with  the  angels.  The  angelic  sphere  becomes  ex- 
tremely disagreeable  to  them — painfully  so;   and  they 


80  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL, 

withdraw  from  it  as  instinctively  as  owls  and  bats  with- 
draw from  the  light  of  day.  And  then  they  gravi- 
tate each  one  to  the  society  of  spirits  whose  character 
is  nearest  like  his  own.  For  in  the  hells  as  in  the 
heavens  there  are  innumerable  societies,  some  in  one 
kind  of  evil  and  some  in  another ;  and  some  more  des- 
perately wicked  than  others — for  there  are  various  kinds 
and  degrees  of  wickedness  in  the  other  world,  as  there 
are  in  this.  And  the  great  law  of  spiritual  affinity,  which 
is  as  universal  and  constant  in  the  spiritual  world  as  the 
law  of  gravitation  is  in  this,  tends  to  bring  those  of  like 
character  together,  and  to  hold  them  together. 

Every  evil  spirit,  therefore,  soon  as  his  interior  cha- 
racter is  fully  developed,  gravitates  with  unfailing  cer- 
tainty toward  those  who  are  most  like  himself.  Nor 
does  he  go  reluctantly  among  his  like ;  he  goes  there 
willingly,  gladly,  joyfully,  as  thieves  and  profligates  on 
earth  go  among  those  of  like  character.  He  seeks  their 
society  in  perfect  freedom,  because  he  finds  it  congenial ; 
because  he  prefers  it  to  the  society  of  the  good  and  wise ; 
and  he  prefers  it,  because  they  are  like  himself.  With 
them  he  feels  more  at  home,  more  free,  more  contented, 
more  happy  than  any  where  else ; — and  it  is  the  Lord's 
ceaseless  desire  and  effort  to  make  every  one  as  happy  as 
possible.  He  does  not  force  a  single  individual  to  go 
where  he  does  not  wish  to  go  in  the  Hereafter.  And 
those  who  go  into  any  of  the  societies  of  hell,  go  in  free- 
dom and  from  choice*     They  go  there  because  they  find 


THE   CHOSEN  HOME,  ETC.  Si 

such  society  more  congenial  than  that  of  the  angels.  If 
forced  to  live  in  heaven,  or  in  the  society  of  the  wise 
and  good,  they  would  be  out  of  their  proper  element ; 
nay,  they  would  be  unspeakably  miserable.  It  would  be 
far  more  cruel  than  it  would  be  to  compel  persons  whose 
eyes  are  diseased,  to  dwell  in  the  bright  blaze  of  the 
noon-day  sun.     Accordingly  Swedenborg  says  : 

"  Spirits  who  come  from  the  world  into  the  other  life, 
desire  nothing  more  than  to  be  admitted  into  heaven. 
Almost  all  seek  to  gain  admittance,  imagining  that  heaven 
consists  only  in  being  introduced  and  received.  There- 
fore also,  because  they  desire  it,  they  are  conveyed  to 
some  society  of  the  lowest  heaven ;  but  when  they  who 
are  in  the  love  of  self  and  the  world  approach  the  thresh- 
old of  that  heaven,  they  begin  to  be  so  distressed  and 
tormented  interiorly,  that  they  feel  hell  in  themselves 
rather  than  heaven.  Therefore  they  cast  themselves 
down  headlong  thence ;  nor  do  they  find  rest  until  they 
come  into  hell  among  their  like. 

"  It  has  often  happened  also  that  such  spirits  desired 
to  know  what  heavenly  joy  is ;  and  when  they  heard  that 
it  is  in  the  interiors  of  the  angels,  they  have  wished  to 
have  it  communicated  to  themselves.  Therefore  this 
also  was  granted, — for  whatever  a  spirit  desires,  who  is 
not  yet  in  heaven  or  in  hell,  is  granted  him  if  it  be  bene- 
ficial. But  when  the  communication  was  made,  they 
began  to  be  tortured  to  such  a  degree  that  they  knew  not 

into  what  posture  to  screw  their  bodies  on  account  of  the 
F 


82  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

pain.  I  saw  them  force  their  heads  down  even  to  their 
feet,  cast  themselves  upon  the  ground,  and  there  twist 
themselves  into  folds,  in  the  manner  of  a  serpent ;  and 
this  by  reason  of  the  inward  agony.  Such  was  the  effect 
which  heavenly  delight  produced  upon  those  who  were 
in  delights  from  the  love  of  self  and  the  world.* '  {Heaven 
and  Hell  n.  400.) 

Again  he  says : 

"  Most  of  those  who  go  from  -the  Christian  world  into 
the  other  life,  carry  with  them  the  belief  that  they  are  to 
be  saved  by  immediate  mercy.  But  when  they  are  exam- 
ined, they  are  found  to  believe  that  to  come  into  heaven 
is  merely  to  be  admitted ;  and  that  those  who  are  ad- 
mitted are  in  heavenly  joy, — being  totally  unacquainted 
with  the  nature  of  heaven  and  of  heavenly  joy.  Where- 
fore they  are  told  that  heaven  is  not  denied  to  any  one 
by  the  Lord ;  and  that  they  can  be  admitted  if  they 
wish,  and  tarry  there  as  long  as  they  please.  They  who 
have  desired  this,  have  also  been  admitted ;  but  when 
they  reached  the  first  threshold,  they  were  seized  with 
such  anguish  of  heart,  from  the  breathing  upon  them  of 
heavenly  heat  which  is  the  love  in  which  the  angels  are, 
and  from  the  influx  of  heavenly  light  which  is  divine 
truth,  that  they  experienced  infernal  torment  instead  of 
heavenly  joy ;  and  in  consequence  of  the  shock  they  cast 
themselves  headlong  thence.  Thus  were  they  instructed 
by  living  experience,  that  heaven  cannot  be  given  to  any 
one  from  immediate  mercy/ ' — Ibid.  525. 


THE   CHOSEN  HOME,  ETC.  83 

We  see  this  great  law  of  affinity  exemplified  here  on 
earth — among  animals  as  well  as  the  human  race.  Those 
of  the  same  species  or  general  characteristics,  always 
prefer  the  society  of  each  other.  Beavers  love  to  be 
with  beavers,  bears  with  bears,  wolves  with  wolves,  mice 
with  mice.  None  of  these  creatures  feel  quite  contented 
or  at  home  in  the  society  of  animals  of  a  totally  different 
nature. 

And  so  with  the  members  of  the  human  family.  Not 
only  do  the  evil,  when  left  to  act  in  perfect  freedom, 
shun  the  society  of  the  good,  but  they  group  themselves 
together  according  to  the  kinds  and  degrees  of  wicked- 
ness in  which  they  are.  Pirates  choose  the  society  of 
pirates ;  thieves  the  society  of  thieves ;  counterfeiters  the 
society  of  counterfeiters ;  *  tipplers,  gamblers,  burglars, 
profligates,  the  society  of  persons  of  their  own  profession 
— persons  most  like  themselves.  So  obvious  is  this  truth, 
that  it  has  passed  into  the  proverbs,  universally  accepted, 
"Birds  of  a  feather  flock  together;"  and  "A  man  is 
known  by  the  company  he  keeps." 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  then,  that  this  law  of  affinity 
is  one  of  the  unchangeable  laws  of  the  moral  universe ; 
and  it  must,  therefore,  govern  in  the  arrangements  of  all 
in  the  spiritual  world — the  evil  as  well  as  the  good.  It 
must  group  congenial  spirits  into  innumerable  associa- 
tions. And  a  most  wise  and  beneficent  provision  it  is, 
too ; — a  provision  whereby  every  human  being,  whatever 
be  his  character,  shall  have  a  home  in  the  Hereafter 


84  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

among  just  that  class  of  persons  whose  society  he  prefers 
and  finds  congenial  to  his  tastes. 

But  the  societies  of  the  hells,  selfish  and  wicked  as 
they  are,  are  under  a  government  as  well  as  those  of  the 
heavens.  And  this  government,  too,  is  provided  by  the 
Lord,  and  is  most  wisely. and  mercifully  adapted  to  their 
condition  and  wants.  It  is  provided  for  the  best  good 
of  the  devils  themselves,  as  well  as  for  the  good  of  all 
other  parts  of  the  moral  universe.  It  is  precisely  such  a 
government  as  they  require ;  the  only  one,  indeed,  that 
is  suited  to  their  state — a  government  not  of  love,  but  of 
fear  and  force ;  for  there  is  no  love  of  the  neighbor  in 
their  hearts,  and  therefore  no  desire  to  promote  the 
common  good.  Hence  their  violent  and  malignant  pas- 
sions can  only  be  restrained  by  fear  of  punishment. 
Says  Swedenborg : 

"All  the  inhabitants  of  hell  are  governed  by  fears; 
some  by  fears  implanted  in  the  world,  which  still  retain 
their  influence  ;  but  because  these  fears  are  not  sufficient, 
and  likewise  lose  their  force  by  degrees,  they  are  gov- 
erned by  fear  of  punishments,  and  this  fear  is  the  prin- 
cipal means  of  deterring  them  from  doing  evil.  The 
punishments  in  hell  are  various,  more  gentle  or  more 
severe  according  to  the  nature  of  the  evils  to  be  re- 
strained. For  the  most  part,  the  more  malignant  who 
excel  in  cunning  and  artifice,  and  are  able  to  keep  the 
rest  in  a  state  of  submission  and  slavery  by  punishments 
and  the  terror  thereby  inspired,  are  set  over  the  others; 


THE   CHOSEN  HOME,  ETC.  8$ 

but  these  governors  dare  not  go  beyond  the  limits  pre- 
scribed to  them.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  fear  of 
punishment  is  the  only  means  of  restraining  the  violence 
and  fury  of  those  in  the  hells.  There  is  no  other." 
{Heaven  and  Hell \  n.  543.) 

Who  cannot  see  that  this  is  the  very  best  kind  of  gov- 
ernment for  those  in  hell — the  only  kind,  indeed,  that  is 
suited  to  their  state  and  needs  ?  We  see  that  punishment 
there  has  a  beneficent  design  and  a  beneficent  tendency. 
It  is  not  directly  from  the  Lord,  though  it  results  from 
the  unfailing  operation  of  laws  that  He  has  established. 

"Wherefore,"  says  Swedenborg,  "when  evil  is  done 
from  an  evil  heart,  then,  because  it  casts  away  from  itself 
all  protection  from  the  Lord,  infernal  spirits  rush  upon 
him  who  does  the  evil,  and  punish  him.  This  may  be 
illustrated  in  some  measure  by  crimes  and  their  punish- 
ments in  the  world,  where  also  they  are  linked  together ; 
for  the  laws  prescribe  some  punishment  for  every  crime, 
so  that  whoever  rushes  into  crime,  rushes  also  into  the 
punishment  thereof.  The  only  difference  is,  that  in  the 
world  crime  may  be  concealed ;  but  in  the  other  life 
concealment  is  impossible.  From  these  considerations 
it  may  be  seen  that  the  Lord  does  evil  to  no  one ;  and 
that  the  case  herein  is  similar  to  what  we  find  in  the 
world,  where  not  the  king,  nor  the  judge,  nor  the  law, 
is  the  cause  of  punishment  to  the  guilty,  since  neither  of 
them  is  the  cause  of  the  crime  committed  by  the  evil- 
doer." (Ibid.  n.  550.) 
8 


86  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

Look,  now,  at  the  intrinsic  reasonableness  of  this  New 
doctrine  of  hell ;  and  compare,  or  rather  contrast  it  with 
that  believed  and  taught  a  hundred  years  ago.  While 
our  reason  protests  against  the  Old  as  utterly  absurd,  it 
freely  and  cordially  accepts  the  New.  The  Old  is  a 
purely  sensuous  doctrine,  in  accordance  with  a  sensuous 
age,  a  sensuous  philosophy,  and  a  sensuous  interpretation 
of  holy  Scripture ;  while  the  New  is  eminently  spiritual, 
in  harmony  with  the  conceptions  of  spiritually  minded 
men,  with  the  higher  spiritual  philosophy,  and  the  spirit- 
ual interpretation  of  the  Divine  Word.  The  Old  is  ar- 
bitrary— lying  quite  outside  of  the  domain  of  law  and 
order;  while  the  New  is  seen  to  be  in  perfect  accord 
with  the  known  laws  of  the  human  soul — the  inevitable 
result,  indeed,  of  the  violation  of  these  laws.  The  Old 
presents  God  as  a  very  monster  of  cruelty;  while  the 
New  exhibits  Him  as  a  wise  and  tender  and  loving 
Father,  forever  pursuing  his  rebellious  children  into  the 
lowest  depths  of  sin  and  suffering;  clasping  his  arms 
around  even  the  devils  in  hell ;  providing  a  congenial 
home  for  all  in  the  great  Hereafter ;  and  just  such  a  home 
as  each  one,  by  the  life  that  he  has  voluntarily  formed, 
strengthened  and  confirmed,  is  fitted  to  enjoy,  and  will 
himself  freely  choose. 

Who,  that  is  not  utterly  blinded  by  prejudice,  can  fail 
to  see  that  this  New  doctrine,  as  compared  with  the  Old 
and  once  generally  accepted  view,  is  as  the  light  of 
noon-day  compared  with  the  darkness  of  midnight ! 


VI. 

THE  DURATION  OF  HELL. 

T  T  AVING  shown  where  and  what  hell  really  is,  and 
*  *  having  exhibited  the  sharp  contrast  between  the 
Old  and  the  New  doctrine  in  respect  to  reasonableness ; 
— having  shown,  also,  that  the  law  according  to  which 
all  spirits,  the  evil  as  well  as  the  good,  associate  in  the 
great  Hereafter,  is  unquestionably  a  law  of  the  human 
soul,  and  must  therefore  be  as  enduring  in  its  operations 
as  the  soul  itself,  I  proceed  next  to  consider  the  moment- 
ous question : — 

Is  the  condition  of  the  wicked  in  the  other  world,  as 
Swedenborg  was  permitted  to  see  and  commissioned  to 
reveal  it,  to  continue  substantially  the  same  throughout 
the  ages  of  eternity?  In  other  words,  will  those  who 
pass  into  that  world  in  a  hellish  state  of  life,  remain  for 
ever  in  that  state  ?  Or  can  men  repent,  and  their  ruling 
loves  be  changed  from  evil  to  good,  after  death  ?  Can 
the  great  work  of  spiritual  renewal  be  commenced  in  the 
other  world  (with  those  who  have  died  in  a  state  of  con- 
firmed evil),  if  it  has  not  been  begun  in  this?  Or,  as 
some  believe  and  confidently  affirm,  are  "the  inverted 
forms  of  the  natural  degree  which  constitute  the  external 

87 


So  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

body  of  the  infernal  in  the  hells/ '  to  be  finally  destroyed 
through  "  the  unrestrained  ultimation  given  to  the  ruling 
infernal  loves"? — so  that  the  man  (when  these  forms 
are  destroyed),  "freed  from  his  prison-house  in  the 
hells/'  will  be  "restored  to  his  original  infant  state  of 
conscious  existence/'  ? — will  "  at  once  ascend  to  the  plane 
of  the  New  Heaven — his  eternal  Home — and  there,  from 
this  new  point  of  departure,  advance  in  and  to  Eternal 
Life"? 

These  interrogatories,  it  will  be  seen,  are  only  differ- 
ent ways  of  presenting  one  and  the  same  question,  which 
is  commonly  stated  in  this  form:  "Are  the  hells  to  be 
unending  in  their  duration?" — or  this:  "Will  those 
who  go  to  hell  after  death,  always  remain  there  ?  Will 
they  always  continue  in  an  infernal  state?" 

This  inquiry  is  not  only  natural,  but  it  is  one  which 
cannot  be  kept  down.  It  rises  spontaneously  to  the 
thought,  however  its  utterance  by  the  lips  or  pen  may  be 
suppressed. 

And  where  shall  we  look  for  an  answer  to  this  ques- 
tion ?  To  the  intuitions  of  the  natural  reason  ?  or  to  the 
unequivocal  teachings  of  Revelation  ?  Is  the  verdict  of 
natural  reason  worthy  of  implicit  reliance  in  questions  of 
this  nature? — perverted,  distorted,  beclouded  as  all  will 
admit  this  reason  to  be.  Were  reason  alone  sufficient  to 
assure  us  of  our  continued  and  conscious  existence  aftei 
the  body  dies?  Reason  may  have  nothing  to  urge 
against  the  doctrine  of  the  soul's  immortality — nay,  it 


ITS  DURATION.  89 

may  have  much  to  urge  in  favor  of  it ;  but  could  it  prove 
it  in  such  a  manner  as  to  give  us  anything  like  a  com- 
forting assurance  of  its  truth? 

And  if  unaided  reason  could  not  discern  or  clearly 
demonstrate  even  the  soul's  existence  apart  from  the  ma- 
terial body,  what  could  it  tell  us  about  the  nature,  facts 
or  laws  of  that  realm  which  it  is  to  inhabit  after  the  body 
dies?  What  assurance  could  reason  alone  give  us  of  any 
hell  or  heaven  after  the  death  of  the  body,  or  what  could 
it  tell  us  of  the  nature  of  either? — to  say  nothing  of  the 
more  profound  and  subtle  questions  like  that  now  before 
us.  What  need  was  there  of  any  revelation  concerning 
the  life  after  death,  if  human  reason  of  itself  could  have 
learned  all  about  it? 

Obviously  the  Lord  saw  the  inadequacy  of  reason  to 
such  sublime  discoveries ;  and  therefore,  in  tender  com- 
passion and  love  toward  us,  He  supplements  the  deficien- 
cies of  reason  by  the  clearer  light  of  revelation.  He 
opens  the  eyes  of  chosen  seers  and  prophets,  and  through 
them  reveals  truth  concerning  man's  immortality  and  the 
life  after  death,  which  no  one's  reason  without  such  reve- 
lation could  ever  have  found  out. 

Plainly,  then,  the  question  before  us  narrows  itself 
down  to  this :  What  is  the  teaching  of  revelation  on  the 
subject?  Has  the  infinitely  wise  and  gracious  Lord — 
aiming  to  instruct  and  bless  mankind  through  his  own 
chosen  and  gifted  seers — deigned  to  tell  us  anything  in 
regard  to  the  duration  of  the  hells  ?     If  so,  what  is  it  ? 

8* 


cp  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

Any  one  may  reject  the  revelation,  or  refuse  to  believe  it 
if  he  chooses ;  but  in  that  case  he  either  denies  that  any 
divinely  authorized  revelation  has  been  made  on  the 
subject,  or  he  sets  his  reason  above  that  revelation ;  he 
assumes  "to  be  wise  above  what  is  written,"  yea,  wiser 
than  the  Lord  himself.  He  plants  himself  outside  of  or 
above  revelation,  on  precisely  the  ground  occupied  by 
the  Deistic  and  rationalistic  schools.  I  cheerfully 
concede  every  one's  right  to  do  this ;  but  doing  it,  he 
has  no  right  to  complain  of  the  logical  consequence. 
He  has  no  right  to  find  fault  with  others  for  casting  him 
into  the  ranks  of  those  whose  fundamental  idea  he  delib- 
erately accepts. 

Have  we,  then,  a  divinely  authorized  revelation  on  this 
subject?  And  is  that  revelation  clear  and  unmistak- 
able? This  is  the  question  for  those  to  consider  who 
believe  in  revelation;  and  my  argument  is  addressed 
exclusively  to  such.  And  it  is  a  question  which  should 
be  approached  with  judicial  calmness,  and  with  as  much 
freedom  as  possible  from  the  biasing  or  blinding  influence 
of  our  own  private  judgments,  feelings,  or  wishes  in  the 
case.  The  question  is:  Has  the  Lord  spoken  on  this 
subject?     And  if  so,  what  has  He  said? 

Nowhere  but  in  its  literal  sense,  does  the  Scripture  tell 
us  anything  about  the  duration  of  hell ;  for  in  the 
higher  or  spiritual  sense  of  the  Word,  no  idea  is  any- 
where conveyed  of  time  or  duration  in  the  sense  com- 
monly understood  by  these  words.     And  it  cannot  be 


ITS  DURATION.  91 

denied  that,  so  far  as  the  Bible  in  its  literal  sense 
teaches  anything  about  the  duration  of  hell,  it  teaches 
that  it  will  be  unending.  The  same  terms  to  indicate 
endless  duration,  that  are  applied  to  heaven,  are  also 
applied  to  hell.  Its  punishment  is  said  to  be  "ever- 
lasting," and  its  fire  "the  fire  that  never  shall  be 
quenched."  "And  these  [the  wicked]  shall  go  away 
into  everlasting  punishment,  but  the  righteous  into  ever- 
lasting life." 

And  the  great  majority  of  the  First  Christian  Church 
have  believed,  according  to  the  plain  teaching  of  the 
letter,  that  the  hell  of  which  the  Bible  speaks  is  to  be 
unending  in  duration,  and  that  those  who  go  there  after 
death  will  remain  there  for  ever.  It  is  plain  that  the 
Lord  intended  that  those  who  received  his  Word  (as 
Christians  have  hitherto  for  the  most  part)  in  its  literal 
sense,  should  believe  in  the  eternity  of  hell.  Otherwise, 
we  may  be  sure  that  very  different  language  would  have 
been  employed  from  what  we  find  wherever  the  duration 
of  hell  is  spoken  of.  And  if  it  be  argued,  as  it  some- 
times is,  that  the  words  "eternal"  and  "everlasting" 
are  occasionally  applied  in  Scripture  to  things  known  to 
be  of  temporary  duration,  and  if  the  force  of  the  argu- 
ment be  admitted,  what  follows?  Why,  simply  that  the 
Bible  teaches  nothing  in  regard  to  the  duration  of  hell, 
and  that  no  argument  can  be  drawn  from  its  language 
either  for  or  against  its  eternity. 

Let  us  turn,  then,  to  that  more  recent  revelation  which 


92  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

the  Lord  has  been  pleased  to  make  for  the  establishment 
and  upbuilding  of  a  New  Christian  Church ; — a  revela- 
tion wherein  are  disclosed  many  things  concerning  the 
life  after  death,  which  the  First  Christian  Church  was 
not  able  to  bear.  Upon  no  one  subject,  perhaps,  has  the 
Lord's  servant  been  more  explicit,  than  upon  the  dura- 
tion of  the  hells.  The  following  are  some  of  his  clear 
and  emphatic  statements : 

"Every  man's  ruling  affection  or  love  remains  with 
him  after  death,  nor  is  it  extirpated  to  eternity;  since 
the  spirit  of  man  is  altogether  such  as  his  love  is ;  and 
(what  is  an  arcanum)  the  body  of  every  spirit  and  angel 
is  the  external  form  of  his  love,  perfectly  corresponding 
to  the  internal  form  [i.  e.  to  the  quality  of  his  love]. 
It  is  therefore  manifest  that  man  remains  to  eternity  of 
the  same  character  as  his  ruling  affection  or  love  is.  It 
has  been  granted  me  to  converse  with  some  who  lived 
seventeen  hundred  years  ago,  and  whose  lives  are  well 
known  from  the  writings  of  that  period ;  and  it  was 
found  that  every  one  was  still  influenced  by  the  love 
which  ruled  him  when  he  lived  in  the  world."  {Heaven 
and  Hell,  n.  363.) 

"  Man,  as  to  his  entire  life  [or  character],  remains  for 
ever  such  as  he  is  at  the  time  of  his  death."  (Ap.  Ex.,  n. 
174.)  "As  man  is  when  he  dies,  such  he  remains  to 
eternity."   (Ibid.  125.) 

"  It  is  man's  will-faculty  that  lives  after  death,  and  not 
his  thinking-faculty  except  so  far   as  this  has  been  in 


ITS  DURATION.  93 

agreement  with  his  will-faculty.  ...  It  may  be  imagined 
by  those  who  are  not  instructed  concerning  the  life  after 
death,  that  they  can  then  easily  receive  faith  when  they 
see  that  the  Lord  governs  the  universal  heaven,  and  when 
they  hear  that  heaven  consists  in  loving  Him  and  their 
neighbor.  But  they  who  are  principled  in  evil,  are  as  far 
from  being  able  to  receive  faith  after  death,  that  is,  from 
being  able  to  believe  from  a  ground  in  the  will-faculty,  as 
hell  is  from  heaven.  ...  If  it  were  possible  for  spirits 
to  believe  and  become  good  from  mere  instruction  in 
the  other  life,  there  would  not  be  a  single  individual  in 
hell;  for  the  Lord  is  desirous  of  elevating  all,  how 
many  soever  there  be,  to  Himself  in  heaven.  For  his 
mercy  is  infinite,  because  it  is  the  Divine  [Love]  itself; 
and  is  exercised  toward  the  whole  human  race,  alike 
toward  the  evil  as  toward  the  good."  {Arcana  Calestia 
2401.) 

"The  life  of  a  man  cannot  be  changed  after  death, 
but  must  remain  for  ever  such  as  it  had  been  in  this 
world ;  for  the  character  of  a  man's  spirit  is  in  every 
respect  the  same  as  that  of  his  love ;  and  infernal  love 
can  never  be  changed  into  heavenly  love,  because  they 
are  in  direct  opposition  to  each  other.  This  is  what  is 
meant  by  the  words  of  Abraham  addressed  to  tha  rich 
man  in  hell :  '  Between  us  and  you  there  is  a  great  gulf 
fixed ;  so  that  they  who  would  pass  from  hence  to  you, 
cannot ;  neither  can  they  pass  to  us  who  would  come 
from  thence.'   (Luke  xvi.  26.)     Hence  it  is  evident  that 


94  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

all  who  go  to  hell,  remain  there  for  ever."  {New  Jeru- 
salem and  its  Heavenly  Doctrine  n.  239.) 

"He  who  is  in  evil  in  the  world,  is  in  evil  after  his 
departure  from  the  world ;  therefore  if  evil  is  not  removed 
in  the  world,  it  cannot  be  removed  afterwards.  Where 
the  tree  falls,  there  it  lies.  So  also  does  a  man's  life, 
when  he  dies,  remain  such  as  it  was.  Moreover,  every- 
one is  judged  according  to  his  deeds;  not  that  these 
are  recounted,  but  because  he  returns  to  them  and  does 
them  as  before ;  for  death  is  a  continuation  of  life,  with 
the  difference  that  the  man  cannot  then  be  reformed.' ' 
{Divine  Providence  n .  277.) 

"Because  it  has  been  granted  me  during  many  years 
to  be  with  the  angels,  and  to  speak  with  new-comers 
from  the  world,  I  can  with  certainty  testify  that  every 
one  is  there  explored  as  to  the  quality  of  the  life  he  had 
led ;  and  that  the  life  which  he  contracted  in  the  world 
remains  with  him  for  ever."  (Conjugial  Love  524.) 

"  Since  it  has  been  granted  me  for  many  years  to  be  in 
company  with  the  angels,  and  to  converse  with  those  who 
have  left  the  world,  I  can  testify  with  certainty  that  every 
one  is  there  examined  as  to  the  quality  of  his  past  life, 
and  that  the  life  which  he  had  contracted  in  the  world 
remains  with  him  to  eternity.  I  have  conversed  with 
those  who  lived  many  ages  ago,  whose  lives  I  was  ac- 
quainted with  from  history ;  and  I  found  them  to  be  of 
a  character  similar  to  the  description  given  of  them. 


ITS  DURATION.  95 

I  have  also  heard  from  the  angels  that  no  one's  life  can 
be  changed  after  death."  {Brief  Exposition  n.  no.) 

u  I  have  been  told  by  the  angels  that  the  life  of  the 
ruling  love  [after  death]  is  never  changed  with  any  one 
to  eternity,  since  every  one  is  his  own  love ;  wherefore 
to  change  that  love  in  a  spirit,  would  be  to  deprive  him 
of  his  life,  or  to  annihilate  him."  {Heaven  and  Hell  n. 
480.) 

"I  can  testify  from  much  experience,  that  it  is  impos- 
sible to  implant  the  life  of  heaven  in  those  who  have  led 
an  opposite  life  in  the  world."  Then — after  relating 
some  experiments  made  with  persons  who  had  imbibed 
the  notion  that  they  might  receive  the  life  of  heaven  in 
the  other  world,  however  they  had  failed  to  obey  the 
laws  of  that  life  in  this — the  writer  concludes:  "From 
these  and  other  experiments,  the  simple  good  were  in- 
structed that  no  one's  life  can  possibly  be  changed  after 
death ;  and  that  evil  life  can  by  no  means  be  changed 
into  good  life,  nor  infernal  life  into  angelic,  since  every 
spirit  from  head  to  foot  is  of  the  same  quality  as  his  love, 
and  therefore  of  the  same  quality  as  his  life ;  and  that  to 
transmute  this  life  into  the  opposite,  were  to  destroy  the 
spirit  altogether.  The  angels  declare  that  it  were  easier 
to  change  a  bat  into  a  dove,  or  an  owl  into  a  bird  of 
paradise,  than  an  infernal  spirit  into  an  angel  of  heaven." 
(Ibid.  n.  527.) 

(See  also  Arcana  Ccelestia  n.  3762,  3993,  4464,  4588, 
5145,   7186,  8206,  9061,   10,243,   10,284;    True  Chris- 


96  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

Han  Religion  n.  531,  Doctrine  of  Life  n.  8,  and  other 
places,  where  the  same  doctrine  is  plainly  taught.) 

The  above  quotations  and  references  (and  many  sim- 
ilar ones  might  be  made),  leave  us  in  no  doubt  as  to  what 
the  doctrine  revealed  for  the  New  Church  on  this  subject, 
is.  I  have  quoted  freely,  that  the  reader  may  see  how 
explicit  and  uniform  and  positive  Swedenborg  is  in  his 
teaching  concerning  the  impossibility  of  any  essential 
change  of  character  taking  place  in  the  other  world. 
The  time  in  which  the  several  works  here  quoted  were 
written,  stretches  over  a  period  of  more  than  twenty 
years;  yet  the  essential  fact  stated  is  always  the  same. 
There  is  not  a  single  point  of  doctrine  on  which  he  has 
been  more  explicit  or  more  positive. 

Nor  does  he  proclaim  the  endless  duration  of  the  hells 
as  his  belief  or  opinion  merely,  but  as  a  part  of  the  reve- 
lation which  he  was  divinely  commissioned  to  make. 
And  not  only  does  he  declare  the  fact  over  and  over 
again,  and  without  any  essential  variation  throughout  the 
long  period  of  his  illumination,  but  he  tells  us  that  this 
is  what  the  angels  believe  and  teach  on  the  subject,  and 
is  what  is  meant  by  the  passage  in  the  Word  which 
speaks  of  a  gulf  that  cannot  be  passed  over  after  death. 
And  not  only  so,  but  he  assures  us  that  he  saw  and  con- 
versed with  persons  known  to  him  from  history,  who  had 
been  dead,  some  of  them  seventeen  hundred  years,  and 
some  for  ages,  and  whose  characters  had  not  essentially 
changed  since  that  period.     And  elsewhere  he  tells  us 


ITS  DURATION.  97 

why  the  character  cannot  be  changed  after  death,  as  will 
be  shown  in  a  future  chapter. 

Now  no  one  is  under  obligation  to  accept  Sweden - 
borg's  teaching  on  this  or  any  other  subject.  He  may 
accept  or  reject  it  as  suits  his  inclination.  But  I  submit 
that  he  cannot  consistently  accept  this  man  as  a  teacher 
sent  of  God — as  one  divinely  illumined  and  commis- 
sioned to  make  a  new  revelation — and  at  the  same  time 
discredit  or  reject  such  explicit  teaching  as  we  find  in 
the  foregoing  extracts. 

Can  we  suppose  the  Swedish  seer  to  have  been  enlight- 
ened as  no  other  man  ever  was  upon  spiritual  subjects 
generally,  yet  more  in  the  dark  on  this  one — and  by  no 
means  an  unimportant  one,  either — than  some  of  us  who 
give  no  evidence  of,  and  make  no  pretensions  to,  any 
special  illumination?  There  is  as  little  reason  for  be- 
lieving him  mistaken  in  regard  to  the  duration  of  the 
hells,  as  there  is  for  believing  him  rrfistaken  in  regard  to 
a  hundred  other  things  that  he  tells  us  he  was  commis- 
sioned to  reveal  concerning  the  great  Hereafter. 

We  cannot,  therefore,  reject  Swedenborg's  teaching  on 
this  subject,  without  virtually  discrediting  his  claim  as  a 
divinely  commissioned  messenger,  and  claiming  for  our- 
selves a  higher  degree  of  illumination  than  he  enjoyed — 
upon  one  subject,  at  least. 

The  eternity  of  the  hells,  then,  is  not  a  human  inven- 
tion.    It  is  not  the  conclusion  of  natural  reason,  nor  the 

offspring  of  an  unenlightened  mind.     It  is  a  matter  of  di- 
9  G 


98  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

vine  revelation,  as  much  so  as  the  immortality  of  the 
soul,  the  nature  and  time  of  the  resurrection,  the  nature 
of  heaven  and  hell,  and  the  law  that  determines  the  asso- 
ciates of  each  one  and  the  appearance  of  his  surround- 
ings in  the  Hereafter.  Whoever  rejects  the  doctrine, 
therefore,  sets  his  own  reason  above  revelation,  or  as- 
sumes to  be  "wise  above  what  is  written/ '  Yet  the 
revelation  is  not  contrary  to  enlightened  reason,  but 
quite  in  accordance  with  it,  as  will  be  shown  hereafter. 

But  let  us  suppose,  for  the  sake  of  argument,  that  the 
hells  are  not  to  be  eternal  \ — that,  ultimately,  all  the  devils 
will  become,  through  a  process  that  no  one  yet  under- 
stands or  is  able  to  explain,  shining  and  happy  angels. 
Supposing  this  to  be  the  fact,  the  time  may  come  when 
the  Lord  will  reveal  it  to  the  children  of  men.  But  cer- 
tainly that  time  has  not  yet  arrived.  The  Lord  has  not 
yet  made  such  a  revelation  as  justifies  any  man  who 
plants  himself  upon  revealed  truth,  in  maintaining  the 
non -eternity  of  the  hells.  What  right,  then,  have  we  to 
preach,  on  such  a  subject,  a  doctrine  which  the  Lord  in 
his  infinite  wisdom  has  thought  proper  not  to  reveal — 
nay,  a  doctrine  the  very  opposite  to  that  which  He  has 
revealed?  If  it  were  best  for  the  world  in  its  present 
state  that  this  doctrine  be  preached,  certainly  God  would 
have  known  it,  and  would  have  vouchsafed  the  needed 
revelation.  But  since  He  has  not  done  this,  but  has  told 
us  in  the  most  explicit  language  that  the  hells  are  eternal 
— that  a  man's  ruling  love  cannot  be  changed  after  death 


ITS  DURATION.  99 

—shall  we  assume  to  be  wiser  than  the  Most  High,  and 
proclaim  in  advance  a  doctrine,  which  (supposing  it  to 
be  true)  the  Lord  in  his  wisdom  has  thought  proper 
hitherto  to  conceal  from  the  children  of  men  ? 

No :  Let  us  scrupulously  guard  against  such  presump- 
tion. Let  us  reverently  acknowledge  that  the  infinitely 
wise  One  knows  what  truth,  or  what  measure  of  truth,  is 
adapted  to  human  wants,  and  what  is  the  proper  time  to 
reveal  it.  Under  the  New  Dispensation  the  Lord  has 
plainly  taught  the  eternity  of  the  hells.  True  or  not,  it 
is  clearly  His  will  that  it  should  be  believed  and  preached 
— for  the  present,  at  least — yes,  during  the  continuance 
of  this  Dispensation.  And  to  believe  or  teach  a  different 
doctrine,  is  either  to  discredit  the  revelation  that  has 
been  made,  or  to  assume  to  know  better  than  the  Divine 
Being  himself  what  is  true  on  this  subject,  or  when  is  the 
proper  time  to  proclaim  this  truth. 

We  see  not,  therefore,  how  any  one  who  professes  to 
believe  in  Swedenborg's  divine  illumination — who  re- 
gards him  as  a  man  especially  prepared,  authorized  and 
sent  of  God  to  make  a  new  revelation — can  for  a  mo- 
ment think  of  rejecting  or  questioning  his  teaching  in 
regard  to  the  duration  of  the  hells,  or  of  substituting  for 
it  the  more  than  doubtful  conclusions  of  his  own  under- 
standing. Surely  it  is  not  wise  to  shut  ourselves  in  a 
dark  room  and  invoke  the  feeble  glimmer  of  a  lamp, 
when  the  great  orb  of  day  is  shining  in  meridian 
splendor. 


VII. 

SOME  EVIDENCE    OF  ITS  DURATION— PHILOSOPH- 
ICAL AND  SCRIPTURAL. 

EVERY  individual  has  some  ruling  love;  and  this 
love  is  his  life.  His  character  is  according  to  the 
nature  of  this  love ; — heavenly  if  the  love  be  good,  in- 
fernal if  the  love  be  evil.  And  this  love  each  one  takes 
with  him  into  the  other  world,  because  he  takes  there  his 
life — his  character — his  own  spiritual  organism  which 
the  ruling  love  has  moulded ;  and  he  can  take  nothing 
else. 

And  according  to  Swedenborg  the  ruling  love  cannot 
be  changed  after  death.  If,  therefore,  it  be  of  an  infer- 
nal character,  it  remains  so  for  ever.  The  individual  will 
have  no  desire  to  change  his  character  in  the  other 
world,  or  to  be  anything  else  than  his  ruling  love 
makes  him ;  and  without  such  desire  we  cannot  con- 
ceive how  any  essential  change  in  him  can  possibly  take 
place.  And  if  the  character  or  ruling  love  undergoes, 
no  change  after  death,  then  the  wicked  will  remain  so 
for  ever,  and  the  hells  will  be  unending  in  their  duration. 

And  this  is  the  solemn  fact  disclosed  by  Swedenborg. 
100 


EVIDENCE    OF  ITS  ETERNITY,  IOI 

Upon  no  single  subject  is  he  more  explicit  in  his  teach- 
ings, than  upon  the  unchangeable  state  of  the  wicked  in 
the  other  world,  and  the  consequent  eternity  of  the 
hells.  The  extracts  in  the  preceding  chapter  furnish 
sufficient  evidence  of  this.  And  although  this  question, 
like  all  others  concerning  the  life  beyond  the  grave, 
is  one  to  be  settled  mainly  by  the  light  of  revelation,  yet 
revelation  rightly  understood  will  ever  be  found  in  agree- 
ment with  the  highest  reason.  Let  us,  then,  examine 
Swedenborg's  teaching  on  this  subject  in  the  light  of  rea- 
son and  of  that  comprehensive  system  of  spiritual  phil- 
osophy which  his  own  writings  furnish. 

Consider,  first,  what  takes  place  with  the  evil  in  this 
world ; — and  by  the  evil  I  mean  all  those  who  act,  not 
from  principle,  or  from  any  regard  to  what  in  itself  is 
just  and  right,  but  from  purely  selfish  considerations. 
We  know  that  the  love  of  self  is  strengthened  by  being 
indulged ;  and  weakened  only  as  its  cravings  are  denied. 
Like  every  other  faculty  and  propensity,  it  acquires 
strength  by  exercise.  The  more  it  is  allowed  to  have 
complete  sway,  and  to  outwork  itself  in  all  the  multifa- 
rious forms  of  villany — such  as  falsehood,  fraud,  theft, 
adultery,  murder — the  more  hardened  does  the  soul  be- 
come, the  more  benumbed  its  sensibilities,  the  dimmer 
its  perceptions  and  the  feebler  its  desire  for  whatever  is 
true  and  just  and  right  in  itself.  Let  a  person  go  on 
cheating  and  defrauding  from  month  to  month  and  year 

to  year,  and  he  will  find  himself  steadily  growing  more 
9* 


102  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

and  more  blind  to  the  odiousness  and  moral  deformity 
of  this  vice,  and  less  and  less  inclined  to  change  his 
course.  Or  let  him  practice  for  a  considerable  time, 
lying,  stealing,  profane  swearing,  adultery,  or  any  other 
vice,  and  his  perception  of  its  sinfulness  will  gradually 
grow  more  and  more  obscure,  and  his  inclination  to  turn 
from  it  more  and  more  feeble. 

So  with  every  sinful  habit  in  which  a  man  indulges. 
The  longer  it  is  pursued  the  more  fully  does  the  evil  in- 
clination take  possession  of  him,  the  more  overmastering 
becomes  its  sway,  the  darker  his  understanding,  and  the 
weaker  his  inclination  to  return  to  the  path  of  innocence 
and  rectitude.  No  fact  is  better  established  and  no  law 
of  the  human  soul  is  more  certain  than  this. 

Now,  under  the  operation  of  this  law,  can  we  conceive 
how  spirits  in  the  other  world,  when  self-love,  which  is 
essential  evil,  has  taken  full  possession  of  them,  so  that 
they  are  the  very  forms  of  that  love ; — so  that  they  turn 
from  and  loathe  the  society  of  the  good,  and  love  and 
seek  the  companionship  of  the  wicked ; — so  that  they 
put  darkness  for  light  and  light  for  darkness,  and  say  to 
evil,  "Be  thou  my  good"  ; — so  that  they  hate  and  shun 
the  light  of  heaven  as  owls  and  bats  shun  the  light  of 
day ; — so  that  they  find  their  delight  in  doing  evil,  as  a 
wolf  finds  his  in  destroying  sheep,  or  a  hog  his  in  wal- 
lowing in  the  mire ; — so  that  they  go  from  choice  each 
one  to  some  congenial  society  in  hell,  as  freely  as  the 
tippler,  the  gambler  and  the  profligate  go  to  their  chosen 


EVIDENCE    OF  ITS  ETERNITY.  1 03 

haunts ; — when  spirits,  I  say,  are  brought  into  this  state, 
can  we  see  in  any  rational  light  how  they  are  ever  to  be 
brought  out  of  it  ?  Can  any  one  give  us  any  rational  or 
philosophical  explanation  of  the  modus  operandi?  To 
suppose  that  they  may  be  brought  out  some  time  or 
other  and  in  some  way  or  other,  is  scarcely  less  absurd 
than  to  suppose  that  a  wolf  may  be  changed  into  a  lamb 
or  a  serpent  into  a  dove.  The  supposition  has  neither 
reason,  philosophy,  experience,  nor  historical  fact  to 
support  it. 

If  heaven  could  be  given  by  an  act  of  immediate 
mercy,  undoubtedly  all  would  finally  go  there  ;  and  there 
would  be  no  hell.  But  it  cannot.  It  is  an  internal  state 
which  cannot  be  developed  or  reached  without  the  indi- 
vidual's own  volition  and  active  co-operation.  The  heav- 
enly character  must  be  developed,  the  heavenly  organism 
and  tissues  must  be  formed,  else  the  light  and  warmth  of 
that  sweet  realm  would  be  as  uncongenial  as  our  atmo- 
sphere is  to  fishes,  or  as  the  light  of  the  noon-day  sun  is 
to  owls  and  bats.    Agreeably  to  this  Swedenborg  says : — 

"Many  spirits  entertain  the  opinion  that  heaven  may 
be  given  to  every  one  from  immediate  mercy ;  and  on 
account  of  their  belief  they  have  been  taken  up  into 
heaven ;  but  when  they  came  there,  because  their  interior 
life  was  contrary  to  that  of  the  angels,  they  grew  blind 
as  to  their  intellectual  faculties  till  they  became  like 
idiots,  and  were  tortured  as  to  their  will  faculties  so  that 
they  behaved  like  madmen ;  in  a  word,  they  who  go  to 


104  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

heaven  after  living  wicked  lives,  gasp  there  for  breath, 
and  writhe  about  like  fishes  taken  from  the  water  into  the 
air,  and  like  animals  in  the  ether  of  an  air-pump,  after 
the  air  has  been  exhausted.' ' — Heaven  and  Hell,  54. 

Again  he  says : 

"Conscience  is  the  Lord's  presence  with  man;  and 
this  is  nearer  in  proportion  as  a  man  is  in  the  affection 
of  good  and  truth.  If  his  presence  is  nearer  than  is 
suitable  to  the  degree  of  a  man's  affection  for  good  and 
truth,  the  man  comes  into  temptation.  The  reason  is, 
that  the  evils  and  falsities  in  him  tempered  with  the 
goods  and  truths  in  him,  cannot  endure  a  nearer  pres- 
ence. This  may  appear  from  circumstances  existing  in 
another  life,  viz.,  that  evil  spirits  cannot  possibly  ap- 
proach any  heavenly  society  without  beginning  to  expe- 
rience anguish  and  torment: — also  that  hell  is  removed 
from  heaven,  because  it  cannot  endure  heaven,  that  is, 
the  Lord's  presence  which  is  in  heaven.  Hence  it  is  said 
of  them  in  the  Word  :  '  Then  shall  they  begin  to  say  to 
the  mountains,  Fall  on  us ;  and  to  the  hills,  Cover  us.' 
Luke  xxiii.  30." — Arcana  Ccelestia  4299.  See  also  n. 
4225,  '6,  5057,  '8,  4674,  15*9- 

It  is  in  tenderest  mercy  to  the  wicked,  therefore,  that 
they  are  not  compelled  to  live  in  heaven ;  for  they  would 
be  far  more  wretched  among  the  angels,  than  they  are  in 
their  own  chosen  and  congenial  homes  in  hell. 

But  the  heavenly  life,  some  think,  will  be  at  last  and 
gradually  developed  in  the  devils,  so  that  they  will  aU 


EVIDENCE    OF  ITS  ETERNITY.  105 

finally  become  angels.  Again  I  ask,  How?  Will  it  be 
developed  like  vegetable  life,  without  the  volition  or 
active  co-operation  of  the  spirits  themselves  ?  Is  moral 
character  ever  developed  or  formed  under  the  laws  of  the 
vegetable  kingdom?  Can  it  be?  And  are  the  condi- 
tions and  surroundings  and  influences  in  the  hells,  and 
the  kind  of  government  that  exists  there,  favorable  to  the 
development  of  the  heavenly  life  ?  Or  is  this  life  to  be 
gradually  unfolded  and  strengthened  there,  in  spite  of  all 
the  adverse  influences  ?  If  so,  will  any  one  tell  us  how. 
Will  he  show  us  the  law,  or  give  us  some  hint  of  the 
philosophy  of  this  development. 

But  God,  it  is  said,  wills  the  salvation  and  happiness 
of  all  men.  And  can  we  suppose  that  His  will  is  to  be 
frustrated  ? — that  He  will  not  be  able  finally  to  accom- 
plish his  purpose? 

And  does  not  God  will  that  men  live  righteously 
here  on  earth  ? — that  they  shun  falsehood,  theft,  hatred, 
adultery,  murder,  as  sins? — that  they  practice  toward 
each  other  the  laws  of  neighborly  love  ?  But  is  the  Di- 
vine will  accomplished  ?  As  a  matter  of  fact,  do  all  men 
live  as  the  Lord  wills  that  they  should  ?  And  if  not, 
then  is  not  the  Divine  purpose  so  far  frustrated  ?  And  if 
frustrated  here  and  now,  then  why  not  there  and  always  ? 
No  argument  for  the  non-eternity  of  the  hells  can  be 
based  upon  the  omnipotence  of  the  Divine  will,  unless 
it  can  be  shown  that  this  will  with  reference  to  man  is 
never  frustrated.     And  in  order  to  show  this,  we  must 


106  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

concede  that  all  the  abominable  deeds  which  men  com* 
mit,  are  done  in  accordance  with  the  will  of  God.  For 
if  not,  then  the  omnipotence  of  that  will  does  not  always 
ensure  the  accomplishment  of  the  Divine  purpose. 

But  the  mistake  arises  from  overlooking  the  proper 
characteristics  of  man,  or  the  nature  of  the  properly 'hu- 
man faculties.  If  he  were  a  machine,  he  might  be  dealt 
with  as  a  machine ;  and  the  builder  or  operator  would 
alone  be  responsible  for  its  movements  or  defects.  But 
being  man,  and  endowed  with  the  faculties  of  liberty 
and  rationality,  he  becomes  himself  responsible  for  his 
actions  and  his  character.  His  salvation  and  happiness 
are  not  things  that  can  be  forced  upon  him — no,  not 
even  by  Omnipotence  itself.  They  are  states  to  be  freely 
chosen,  sought  after,  labored  for,  by  himself;  and  in  no 
other  possible  way  can  they  ever  be  attained.  If  we 
could  conceive  of  those,  who  have  become  so  thoroughly 
confirmed  in  evil  as  to  love  and  seek  the  companionship 
of  devils,  desiring  and  laboring  for  the  exalted  and  un- 
selfish life  of  heaven,  then  we  might  concede  the  possi- 
bility of  the  devils  being  all  ultimately  converted  into 
angels,  and  the  hells  blotted  out  or  changed  into  heavens. 

Then  there  is  a  judgment  which  all  have  to  undergo 
in  the  other  world.  And  Swedenborg  has  described 
very  fully  the  nature  of  that  process.  It  consists  in  such 
a  complete  development  of  each  one's  internals,  or  such 
a  thorough  immersion  of  the  individual  in  his  own 
dominant  love,  whatever  that  may  be,  that  he  no  longer 


EVIDENCE    OF  ITS  ETE UNITY.  1 07 

has  a  divided  mind ; — no  longer  wears  any  disguise,  or 
appears  outwardly  different  from  what  he  is  inwardly. 
This  judgment,  or  letting  each  man  drop,  as  it  were, 
into  himself,  takes  place  in  the  intermediate  state,  or 
world  of  spirits.  And  it  is  accomplished  by  means  of 
the  all-revealing  light  of  truth.  "  The  Word  that  I  have 
spoken,  the  same  shall  judge  him  in  the  last  day."  Swe- 
denborg  says : 

"With  the  wicked,  all  those  things  which  belong  to 
the  exterior  thought  from  which  they  speak,  and  to  the 
exterior  will  from  which  they  act,  are  not  properly  theirs, 
but  those  things  which  belong  to  their  interior  thought 
and  will. 

"When  the  first  state  [after  death]  is  passed  through, 
which  is  the  state  of  the  exteriors,  the  spirit  is  let  into 
the  state  of  his  interiors.  ...  In  this  state  he  thinks 
from  his  own  will,  therefore  from  his  own  affection  or 
from  his  own  love ;  and  then  his  thought  makes  one  with 
his  will,  and  so  completely  one  that  he  scarcely  appears 
to  think  but  merely  to  will. 

"All  men  without  exception  are  let  into  this  state  after 
death,  because  it  is  the  proper  state  of  their  spirits.  .  .  . 
When  a  spirit  is  in  the  state  of  his  interiors,  it  mani- 
festly appears  of  what  character  the  man  was  in  himself 
when  in  the  world ;  for  he  then  acts  from  his  selfhood. 
He  who  was  evil  in  the  world,  then  acts  foolishly  and 
insanely — more  insanely,  indeed,  than  he  did  in  the 
world,  because  he  is  in  freedom  and  under  no  restraint. 


IoS  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

"  No  one  goes  to  hell  until  he  is  in  his  own  evil  and  in 
the  falsities  of  evil  [or  until  there  is  a  perfect  union  of 
will  and  understanding] ;  since  it  is  not  allowed  any  one 
there  to  have  a  divided  mind,  that  is,  to  think  and  speak 
one  thing  and  to  will  another.  Every  evil  spirit  must 
there  think  what  is  false  derived  from  evil,  and  must 
speak  from  such  falsity;  in  both  cases  from  the  will,  thus 
from  his  own  proper  love  and  its  delight  and  pleasure,  as 
he  did  in  the  world  when  he  thought  in  his  spirit,  that 
is,  as  he  thought  in  himself  when  he  thought  from  inte- 
rior affection.  The  reason  is,  that  the  will  is  the  man 
himself,  and  not  the  thought,  except  so  far  as  it  par- 
takes of  the  will ;  and  the  will  is  the  man's  very  nature 
or  disposition ;  therefore  to  be  let  into  his  will  is  to  be 
let  into  his  nature  or  disposition,  and  also  into  his  life, 
for  man  puts  on  a  nature  according  to  his  life ;  and  after 
death,  he  remains  of  such  a  nature  as  he  had  procured 
to  himself  by  his  life  in  the  world,  which,  with  the 
wicked,  can  no  longer  be  amended  and  changed  by 
means  of  thought,  or  the  understanding  of  truth. 

"  Every  one  goes  to  his  own  society  in  which  his  spirit 
was  while  he  lived  in  the  world ;  for  every  man  as  to  his 
spirit  is  conjoined  to  some  society,  either  infernal  or 
heavenly.  .  .  .The  spirit  is  led  to  that  society  by  succes- 
sive steps,  and  at  last  enters  it.  An  evil  spirit,  when  he 
is  in  the  state  of  his  interiors,  is  turned  by  degrees  toward 
his  own  society,  and  at  length  directly  to  it  before  this 
[second]  state  is  completed ;  and  when  completed,  the 


EVIDENCE   OF  ITS  ETERNITY.  109 

evil  spirit  of  his  own  free  choice  casts  himself  into  the 
hell  of  those  whose  character  is  similar  to  his  own." — 
Heaven  and  Hell  502-510. 

We  see  from  this  that  the  judgment  which  every  one 
undergoes  after  death,  is  merely  the  bringing  of  a  man's 
externals  into  perfect  agreement  with  his  internals,  or  his 
thoughts,  words  and  actions,  into  agreement  with  his 
ruling  love.  It  is  turning  the  "  whited  sepulchres"  in- 
side out.  It  is  letting  the  man  drop  into  himself;  so 
that  he  no  longer  has  a  divided  mind  as  he  had  when  in 
the  flesh,  but  is  of  the  same  character  all  through  from 
centre  to  circumference.  Unless,  therefore,  he  is  subse- 
quently to  undergo  another  stupendous  change,  of  which 
revelation  has  told  us  nothing — unless  he  is  to  be  brought 
back  again  into  his  former  double-minded  state,  and  the 
heavenly  part  of  him  then  to  be  aroused  into  strong  and 
persistent  action  so  as  to  completely  overpower  the  in- 
fernal part,  we  cannot  see  how  he  is  ever  to  be  brought 
out  of  his  hellish  state.  For  we  must  remember  that 
there  are  no  germs  of  heavenly  life  in  man — no  "remains  ' ' 
of  good  and  truth  implanted  by  the  Lord — which  can 
develop  under  the  laws  of  vegetable  growth,  or  without 
the  individual's  own  volition.  We  know  of  no  such  in- 
voluntary development  of  the  heavenly  life  in  this  world  ; 
nor  can  we  conceive  of  any  such  in  the  world  to  come. 

Equally  unphilosophical,  too,  and  alike  unsupported 
by  reason  and  revelation,  is  the  idea  that,  at  some  indefi- 
nite period  after  the  judgment  here  referred  to,  the 
10 


HO  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

sinner  will  die  or  be  destroyed  "  that  the  man  may  be 
saved  M — meaning  by  the  sinner  "the  inverted  forms  of 
the  natural  degree,  which  constitute  the  external  body 
of  the  infernal  in  the  hells.' '  There  is  no  such  "sinner" 
then  and  there,  apart  from  the  living,  conscious,  im- 
mortal individual; — no  such  "external  body"  that  may 
be  sloughed  off,  leaving  "the  man  in  his  original  infant 
state  of  conscious  existence  " — "the  actual  state  of  the 
infant  man  of  the  New  Heaven."  All  this  is  mere 
theory,  without  the  slightest  foundation  in  fact,  philos- 
ophy, or  duly  authenticated  divine  revelation. 

Swedenborg's  teaching,  then,  in  regard  to  the  eternity 
of  the  hells,  is  clearly  in  accordance  with  reason  and  the 
highest  spiritual  philosophy  of  which  the  world  has  any 
knowledge. 

And  the  Bible,  so  far  as  it  teaches  anything  on  the 
subject,  confirms  the  testimony  of  reason  and  philos- 
ophy. It  speaks  of  the  wicked  in  the  Hereafter,  going 
away  "into  everlasting  punishment/'  while  the  right- 
eous go  into  "everlasting  life"; — of  a  great  gulf  be- 
tween the  evil  and  the  good,  which  cannot  then  be  passed 
over; — of  a  fire  that  "never  shall  be  quenched."  It 
assures  us  that,  in  the  other  world,  every  one  will  be 
judged  and  rewarded  according  to  his  works.  "The 
dead  were  judged  out  of  those  things  which  were  written 
in  the  books,  according  to  their  works  "  "The  word 
that  I  have  spoken,  the  same  shall  judge  him  in  the  last 
day."     The  blessing  of  the  higher,  even  the  heavenly 


EVIDENCE    OF  ITS  ETERNITY.  Ill 

life,  is  promised  to  none  but  those  who  keep  or  do  the 
Lord's  commandments ;  nor  do  we  find  in  Scripture  any 
warrant  for  the  belief  that  others  will  ever  enter  in 
through  the  gates  into  the  city ; — for  what  other  way  is 
there,  save  by  religious  obedience  to  the  laws  of  the 
heavenly  life  ? 

"Blessed  are  they  that  do  his  commandments,  that 
they  may  have  right  to  the  tree  of  life,  and  may  enter  in 
through  the  gates  into  the  city. 

"  For  without  are  dogs,  and  sorcerers,  and  whoremon- 
gers, and  murderers,  and  idolaters,  and  whosoever  loveth 
and  maketh  a  lie." 

Nor  does  the  Bible  tell  us,  or  any  where  intimate,  that 
these  latter  will  ever  enter  into  the  blessedness  of  eternal 
life.  But  all  who  thirst  for  and  are  willing  to  take  of  its 
waters,  may  enter  in.  Therefore  it  is  written  again  :  "  Let 
him  that  is  athirst,  come.  And  whosoever  will,  let  him 
take  the  water  of  life  freely.' ' 

But  Swedenborg  has  himself  told  us  why  a  man's 
ruling  love  cannot  be  changed  after  death ;  and  why, 
therefore,  the  hells  must  be  unending  in  their  duration. 
It  may  be  alike  interesting  and  instructive  to  consider 
some  of  his  reasons,  which  I  shall  proceed  to  do  in  the 
next  chapter. 
0 


VIII. 

WHY  CANNOT  THE  RULING   LOVE  BE    CHANGED 
AFTER  DEATH? 

THE  doctrine  revealed  for  the  New  Church — revealed 
so  clearly,  too,  that  there  is  no  ground  for  a  dif- 
ference of  opinion  on  this  subject — is,  that  the  love 
which  rules  supreme  in  the  heart  of  man  at  the  time  of 
or  previous  to  his  death,  will  forever  remain  unchanged 
in  its  nature.  Very  often  does  the  illumined  herald  of 
the  New  Church  declare,  that,  "As  man  is  when  he  dies, 
such  he  remains  to  eternity.' '  "  The  life  of  a  man  cannot 
be  changed  after  the  body  dies. M  "If  evil  is  not  removed 
[from  the  soul]  in  the  world,  it  cannot  be  removed  after- 
ward." "The  life  which  a  man  contracts  [or  forms  for 
himself]  in  the  world,  remains  with  him  for  ever." 
"To  change  the  ruling  love  in  a  spirit,  would  be  to  de- 
prive him  of  his  life,  or  to  annihilate  him."  "  No  one's 
life  can  possibly  be  changed  after  death."  "Evil  life 
can  by  no  means  be  changed  [after  death]  into  good  life, 
nor  infernal  life  into  angelic."  "The  angels  declare 
that  it  were  easier  to  change  a  bat  into  a  dove,  or  an 

owl  into  a  bird  of  paradise,  than  an  infernal  spirit  into 
112 


CHARACTER  REMAINS   UNCHANGED— WHY?  1 13 

an  angel  of  heaven."  u  Infernal  love  can  never  be 
changed  into,  heavenly  love  [after  death].  .  .  .  This  is 
what  is  meant  by  the  words  of  Abraham  addressed  to  the 
rich  man  in  hell :  '  Between  us  and  you  there  is  a  great 
gulf  fixed/"  etc.  "Hence  it  is  evident  that  all  who 
go  to  hell,  remain  there  for  ever." 

In  such  clear  and  explicit  declarations  on  this  subject, 
do  the  writings  of  Swedenborg  abound.  If  then,  we 
accept  his  teachings  concerning  the  future  life,  as  a  di- 
vinely authorized  revelation  of  the  solemn  realities  of 
the  spiritual  world,  we  must  believe  that  a  person's  ruling 
love  cannot  be  changed  after  death ;  and  therefore  that 
the  condition  and  character  of  the  wicked  in  the  Here- 
after, will  remain  essentially  the  same  to  all  eternity. 

And  we  cannot  reject  this  doctrine,  or  set  up  another 
in  its  place,  viz.  this : — that  all  who  pass  into  the  other 
world  in  an  infernal  or  supremely  selfish  state,  will  ulti- 
mately be  brought  out  of  that  state  and  become  shining 
angels — without  undermining  or  deranging  the  entire 
system  of  Swedenborg' s  spiritual  philosophy.  To  be 
consistent,  we  must  set  aside  his  doctrine  of  degrees ;  his 
doctrine  concerning  the  nature  of  the  final  judgment; 
his  doctrine  of  human  freedom  and  the  law  of  moral 
growth ;  his  doctrine  of  spiritual  equilibrium  ;-  together 
with  his  great  law  of  spiritual  affinity  which  determines 
all  associations  in  the  spiritual  world.  So  intimately  are 
all  truths  linked  or  dovetailed  together,  that  it  is  no  easy 

matter  to  remove  one,  or  substitute  a  falsity  in  its  place, 
10*  H 


114  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

without  disturbing  the  entire  system  of  which  that  truth 
makes  a  part. 

The  great  Swede's  doctrine  on  this  subject,  then,  has 
the  merit  of  perfect  consistency;  while  any  different 
doctrine  is  seen,  upon  slight  examination,  to  be  in  direct 
conflict  with  other  facts  and  laws  announced  by  him,  the 
obvious  truth  and  rationality  of  which  compel  the  assent 
of  intelligent  and  candid  minds. 

But  not  only  has  Swedenborg  declared  the  fact  that  a 
man's  ruling  love  cannot  be  changed  after  death,  but  he 
has  told  us  why  it  cannot.  In  proclaiming  the  endless 
duration  of  the  hells,  he  has  at  the  same  time  given  us 
the  philosophical  reason.  It  is,  that  when  the  ruling 
love  is  fully  unfolded,  and  everything  that  disagrees  with 
it  is  rejected,  hated,  loathed,  the  individual  is  then  pre- 
cisely what  this  love  makes  him  from  centre  to  circum- 
ference. If  it  be  the  love  of  self,  then  he  is  selfish  all 
through ;  just  as  a  crocodile  is  a  crocodile,  a  wolf  a  wolf, 
or  a  serpent  a  serpent  all  through.  And  he  has  no  more 
desire  to  change  that  love,  or  to  receive  an  unselfish, 
heavenly  love  in  lieu  of  it,  or  to  become  any  other  than 
the  supremely  selfish  being  that  he  is,  than  a  wolf  has 
to  become  a  sheep,  or  a  serpent  a  dove.  And  without 
the  desire  to  overcome  the  love  of  self,  and  to  have  the 
opposite  heavenly  love  implanted  or  developed  in  the 
soul,  can  we  conceive  it  possible  that  this. change  will 
ever  take  place  ?  Human  character  in  this  world  or  in 
the  world  to  come,  is  not,  as  I  have  before  remarked, 


CHARACTER   REMAIXS    LXCIIAXGED—WHY?  \l$ 

developed  under  the  law  of  vegetable  growth.  Its  for- 
mation everywhere  implies  the  exercise  of  human  voli- 
tion, and  never  takes  place  without  it.  A  vegetable  germ 
unfolds  into  a  plant  or  tree  according  to  an  implanted 
instinct  or  law  of  its  nature,  and  without  volition.  But 
is  there  any  human  germ,  hidden  away  in  the  inmosts  or 
elsewhere  of  the  human  spirit, — can  there  be  any— that 
will  ever  develop  into  true  manhood  or  womanhood  in 
like  manner? — that  is,  without  conscious  volition  on  the 
part  of  the  individual  ?  And  if  the  properly  human  or 
heavenly  growth  can  never  take  place  without  volition, 
how  can  the  needed  volition  spring  up  in  the  soul  of 
one  who  has  passed  the  ordeal  of  judgment,  and  become 
thoroughly  and  supremely  selfish  ? 

True,  there  is  but  one  life ;  and  all  life  in  derivative 
forms,  is  one  and  the  same  in  its  origin.  The  same 
exhaustless  Fountain  that  vitalizes  the  organism  of  the 
sheep,  supplies  the  wolf  also  with  life.  The  form  into 
which  the  life  flows,  makes  all  the  difference  in  its  qual- 
ity or  manifestations.  And  we  cannot  conceive  how  a 
wolf  could  be  changed  into  a  sheep,  without  such  a  com- 
plete change  in  its  entire  organism,  as  would  utterly 
destroy  its  identity.  And  this  destroyed,  where  is  the 
original  wolf?     Annihilated,  beyond  question. 

Let  us  hear,  now,  the  reasons  which  Swedenborg  him- 
self has  given,  showing  why  a  man's  ruling  love  cannot 
be  changed  after  death.     He  says  : 

"I  have  also  heard  from  the  angels  that  no  one's  life 


n6  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

can  be  changed  after  death,  because  it  is  organized  ac- 
cording to  his  love  and  faith,  and  hence  according  to 
his  works ;  and  that  if  the  life  were  changed,  the  organ- 
ization would  be  destroyed,  which  can  never  be  done. 
They  further  added,  that  a  change  of  organization  can 
only  take  place  in  the  material  body,  and  by  no  means 
in  the  spiritual  body  after  the  former  has  been  rejected." 
{Brie/  Exposition  n.  1 10 ;   Conjugial  Love  524.) 

"I  have  been  told  by  the  angels  that  [after  death]  the 
life  of  the  ruling  love  is  never  changed  with  any  one, 
since  every  one  is  his  own  love ;  wherefore  to  change 
that  love  in  a  spirit,  would  be  to  deprive  him  of  his 
life,  or  to  annihilate  him.  They  also  stated  the  reason, 
which  is,  that  man  after  death  is  no  longer  capable  of 
being  reformed  by  instruction  as  in  the  world,  because 
the  ultimate  .plane  which  consists  of  natural  knowledges 
and  affections,  is  then  quiescent,  and  cannot  be  opened 
because  it  is  not  spiritual;  that  the  interiors  which 
belong  to  the  rational  and  natural  mind,  rest  upon  that 
plane  like  a  house  on  its  foundation ;  and  that  it  is  for 
this  reason  that  a  man  remains  for  ever  such  as  the  life 
of  his  love  had  been  in  the  world.' '  {Heaven  and  Hell 
n.  480.) 

"By  washing  the  feet  is  meant  to  purify  the  natural 
principle  of  man ;  for  unless  this  principle  in  man  be 
purified  and  cleansed  when  he  lives  in  the  world,  it 
cannot  afterward  be  purified  to  eternity ;  for  such  as  his 
natural  principle  is  when  he  dies,  such  it  remains ;  nor 


CHARACTER   REMAINS   UNCHANGED— WHY?   1 17 

is  it  afterward  amended,  since  it  is  that  plane  into  which 
interior  things  which  are  spiritual  flow,  it  being  their 
receptacle;  therefore  when  this  is  perverted,  interior 
things  when  they  flow  in,  are  perverted  in  like  manner. 
The  case  herein  is  as  when  the  eye  is  injured,  or  any 
other  organ  of  sense  or  member  of  the  body ;  on  which 
occasion  interior  things  feel  and  act  by  them  no  other- 
wise than  according  to  reception  therein.  Therefore  it 
is  that  man  can  never  be  purified  to  eternity  if  he  be  not 
purified  as  to  his  natural  principle  in  the  world ;  this  is 
meant  by  the  Lord's  words,  ■  What  I  do  thou  knowest 
not  now,  but  thou  shalt  know  hereafter.'  "  {Arcana  Ca- 
festia  10,243.) 

Then  there  are  degrees  belonging  to  the  mind ;  and 
the  influx  of  life  is  through  the  higher  degrees  to  the 
lower;  and  the  quality  of  the  life  that  inflows,  or  the 
character  of  the  individual,  is  according  to  the  form  of 
the  natural  degree  which  receives  the  influx.  If  this 
degree  is  in  a  disordered  or  hellish  form,  it  changes 
God's  love  and  wisdom  as  they  flow  in,  into  their  oppo- 
sites;  comparatively  as  the  fox-glove  or  deadly  night- 
shade changes  the  sunshine  and  the  rain  and  the  sweet 
dews  of  heaven  into  poison.  But  if  this  degree  be  re- 
generated or  restored  to  order,  then  the  whole  man  is 
regenerated.  Life  being  received  into  an  orderly  nat- 
ural form,  is  felt  and  manifested  as  the  true  life. 

The  character,  therefore,  of  the  lower  or  natural  degree 
of  a  man's  mind,  since  it  determines  for  ever  the  quality 


Ii8  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

of  the  life  that  inflows,  must  necessarily  determine  for 
ever  the  character  of  the  man.  The  interior  life  is  ter- 
minated in,  and  therefore  takes  on  the  character  of,  the 
external  or  natural  life,  just  as  the  light  and  heat  of  the 
sun,  terminating  in  hideous  forms  and  excrementitious 
substances,  take  on  the  ugliness  of  the  one  and  the  offen- 
siveness  of  the  other.     Accordingly  Swedenborg  says : 

"A  man's  interiors  are  distinguished  into  degrees,  and 
in  every  degree  are  terminated,  and  by  termination  sepa- 
rated each  from  the  interior  degree ;  and  this  from  the 
inmost  to  the  outermost.  .  .  .  These  degrees  in  man 
are  most  distinct ;  hence,  if  he  lives  in  good,  he  is  as  to 
his  interiors  a  heaven  in  its  least  form,  or  his  interiors 
correspond  to  the  three  heavens.  And  therefore  if  a 
man  has  lived  the  life  of  charity  and  love,  he  can  after 
death  be  translated  even  into  the  third  heaven :  but  in 
order  to  acquire  such  a  capacity,  it  is  necessary  that  all 
his  degrees  be  well  terminated,  and  thus  by  terminations 
be  distinct  from  each  other;  and  when  they  are  termin- 
ated, or  by  terminations  are  made  distinct,  every  degree 
is  a  plane  in  which  the  good  inflowing  from  the  Lord 
rests  and  is  received.  Without  these  degrees  as  planes 
good  cannot  be  received  but  flows  through,  as  through 
a  sieve  or  a  perforated  basket,  even  to  the  sensual  [plane], 
and  in  that  is  changed  to  what  is  filthy,  viz.,  into  the 
delight  of  self-love  and  the  love  of  the  world,  conse- 
quently into  the  delight  of  hatred,  revenge,  cruelty,  adul- 
tery, avarice,  or  into  mere  voluptuousness  and  luxurious- 


CHARACTER  REMAINS   UNCHANGED— WHY?  1 19 

ness,  which  delight  appears  to  those  who  are  in  it  as 
good.  .  .  . 

"In  the  other  life  especially  it  is  discovered  whether 
the  things  of  a  man's  will  have  been  terminated  or  not. 
With  those  in  whom  they  have  been  terminated,  there  is 
a  zeal  for  spiritual  good  and  truth,  or  for  what  is  just 
and  right  j  for  they  had  done  good  for  the  sake  of  good 
and  truth,  and  had  acted  justly  for  the  sake  of  what  is 
just  and  right,  not  for  the  sake  of  gain,  honor,  and  the 
like.  All  those  with  whom  the  interiors  of  the  will  have 
been  terminated,  are  elevated  to  heaven,  for  the  influent 
Divine  can  lead  them ;  but  all  those  with  whom  the  inte- 
riors of  the  will  have  not  been  terminated,  betake  them- 
selves to  hell,  for  the  Divine  flows  through  and  is  turned 
into  what  is  infernal,  as  in  the  case  of  the  sun's  heat, 
which  falling  upon  filthy  excrements,  produces  a  foul 
stench.' '    {Arcana  Ccelestia  5145.) 

"With  things  relating  to  spiritual  birth,  the  case  is 
such  that  reception  must  be  altogether  in  the  natural 
principle.  This  is  why,  during  man's  regeneration,  the 
natural  principle  is  first  prepared  to  receive ;  and  so  far 
as  this  principle  is  rendered  capable  of  receiving,  so  far 
interior  goods  and  truths  can  be  brought  forth  and  mul- 
tiplied. For  this  reason  also,  if  the  natural  man  be  not 
prepared  to  receive  the  truths  and  goods  of  faith  in  the 
life  of  the  body,  he  cannot  receive  them  in  the  other 
life,  and  therefore  cannot  be  saved.  This  is  what  is 
meant  by  the  expression  so  often  used,  that,  as  the  tree 


120  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

falls,  so  it  lies ;  or,  as  a  man  dies,  so  his  state  remains. 
For  man  has  with  him  in  the  other  life  all  the  natural 
memory,  or  the  memory  of  the  external  man,  but  is  not 
permitted  to  use  it  in  that  life;  wherefore  it  is  there  as'a 
fundamental  plane  into  which  interior  truths  and  goods 
fall;  and  if  that  plane  is  incapable  of  receiving  the  truths 
and  goods  which  flow  in  from  an  interior  principle,  they 
are  either  extinguished,  perverted  or  rejected.' '  (Ibid. 

45880 

These  degrees  of  the  mind,  Swedenborg  tells  us,  exist 
in  every  man,  "from  his  birth  potentially,  and  actually 
when  opened."  And  he  tells  us,  also,  how  the  higher 
or  heavenly  degrees  of  life  are  opened ;  and  that  every 
one  after  death,  "enters  that  degree  which  was  opened 
within  him  in  the  world."  (Divine  Love  and  Wisdom 
238.)  But  evil,  or  the  indulgence  of  a  supremely  selfish 
and  worldly  love  by  the  natural  mind,  closes  more  and 
more  firmly  the  higher  or  heavenly  degrees. 

"In  such  a  man — [one  who  'delights  in  all  kinds  of 
wickedness,  as  in  adultery,  fraud,  revenge,  blasphemy, 
and  so  on'] — the  spiritual  mind  is  more  and  more 
firmly  closed ;  the  confirmation  of  the  evil  by  the  false 
especially  closes  it.  Therefore  evil  and  the  false  once 
confirmed,  cannot  be  extirpated  after  death;  this  can 
only  be  done  in  the  world  by  repentance."  (Ibid.  262.) 

I  have  quoted  freely  that  the  reader  may  see  the  rea- 
sons given  by  Swedenborg  himself,  why  a  man's  ruling 
love  cannot  be  changed  after  death ;  and  why,  therefore, 


CHARACTER  REMAINS   UNCHANGED— WHY?  121 

the  hells  must  be  eternal  in  duration.  And  they  are 
reasons,  we  observe,  growing  out  oT,  harmonizing  with, 
and  making  indeed  a  part  of,  his  grand  and  comprehen- 
sive system  of  spiritual  philosophy.  So  that,  in  adopt- 
ing a  different  view  from  the  one  he  has  taught  in  regard 
to  the  duration  of  the  hells — in  denying  their  eternity, 
and  insisting  that,  some  time  or  other  and  in  some  way 
or  other,  the  ruling  love  will  be  changed  after  death, 
and  the  devils  be  all  converted  into  angels — we  not  only 
reject  a  doctrine  as  clearly  revealed  as  anything  can  be, 
but  we  are  compelled  also  to  sweep  away  so  much  of  his 
spiritual  philosophy  as  would  leave  his  whole  system  tot- 
tering. We  are  compelled  to  deny  that  the  life's  love 
can  become  so  inwrought  into  the  spiritual  organism 
during  one's  earthly  pilgrimage,  that  an  entire  change 
in  the  quality  of  the  love  would  involve  annihilation,  or 
a  total  destruction  of  the  soul's  organism  (C.  L.  524; 
H.  H.  480).  We  are  compelled  to  deny,  what  we  are 
repeatedly  assured  the  angels  affirm,  that  the  interior 
things  of  the  mind,  resting  for  ever  on  the  ultimate  or 
natural  plane  of  life  developed  here  on  earth  "like  a 
house  on  its  foundation,"  will  for  ever  be  in  harmony  or 
correspondence  with  that  plane.  (Ibid.)  We  must  deny, 
too,  that  there  is  any  such  eternal  and  indissoluble  con- 
nection between  the  life  here  and  the  life  hereafter,  as 
Swedenborg  has  declared ;  or  that  any  such  cleansing  of 
the  external  or  natural  man  here  below  as  he  alleges,  is 

essential  to  that  internal  purification  without  which  there 
11 


122  NEW   VIE IV  OF  HELL. 

can  be  no  heaven.  (A.  C.  10,243.)  We  must  deny  the 
declared  existence  of  degrees  to  the  mind ;  or  that  no 
higher  degree  of  life  can  be  entered  and  enjoyed  in  the 
other  world,  than  the  degree  which  has  been  opened  in 
this.  We  must  deny  that  the  lower  or  natural  degree 
bears  any  such  fixed  and  permanent  relation  to  the 
higher,  as  the  eye  bears  to  seeing  or  the  ear  to  hearing. 
And  considerably  more  must  we  deny,  if  we  would  be 
consistent. 

Who  that  has  studied  Swedenborg  enough  to  grasp  a 
tithe  of  his  deep  and  comprehensive  philosophy,  and 
has  felt  constrained  by  the  illuminating  power  of  his 
writings  to  acknowledge  that  he  was,  indeed,  a  man  or- 
dained and  sent  of  God,  dares  venture  on  such  a  string 
of  denials  ?  Yet  they  all  follow  inevitably  from  the  de- 
nial of  his  doctrine  concerning  the  eternity  of  the  hells, 
or  the  assumption  that  a  man's  ruling  love  may  be 
changed  after  death. 

Then  apply  to  the  doctrine  taught  by  Swedenborg  on 
this  subject  one  other  test — that  most  searching  one 
of  all — that  divinely  authorized  touch-stone  of  truth  and 
of  error  expressed  in  the  formula,  "By  their  fruits  ye 
shall  know  them." 

Judge  the  doctrine  by  its  fruits — that  is,  by  its  obvious 
influence  on  the  character  of  believers.  Compare  it 
in  this  respect  with  that  other  doctrine  which  some 
would  substitute  in  its  place — viz.,  the  doctrine  that 
a  man  may  repent  and  his  ruling  love  be  changed  in 


CHARACTER   REMAINS   UNCHANGED— WHY?   1 23 

the  other  world,  and  the  devils  be  ultimately  all  con- 
verted into  angels. 

The  New  Church  doctrine  says:  "Keep  the  com- 
mandments ;  shun  evils  as  sins ;  deny  self,  take  up  the 
cross  and  follow  the  Lord.  For  if  you  do  not,  while  on 
earth,  begin  the  great  work  of  building  up  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  in  your  heart,  you  will  have  no  inclination  to 
begin  this  work  beyond  the  grave ;  and  that  blessed 
kingdom  will,  therefore,  never  be  yours.' ' 

The  other  doctrine,  stripped  of  its  fine  rhetoric  and 
speaking  in  the  plainest  language,  says:  "It  is  best,  of 
course,  to  keep  the  commandments.  This  will  carry  you 
to  heaven  quickest.  But  live  as  you  will — sin  as  you 
may — trample  on  all  the  laws  of  God  as  you  choose — in- 
dulge your  avarice,  your  lust,  your  pride,  your  selfish- 
ness, your  hate,  to  any  excess — develop  and  strengthen 
within  you  the  life  of  hell  to  whatever  extent — and  God 
will  some  day,  spite  of  yourself  and  every  other  obstacle, 
bring  you  out  of  that  hellish  state,  and  make  you  a 
shining  and  happy  angel.' ' 

Now  which  of  these  doctrines  is  it  best  for  men  to 
believe?  Which  is  most  stimulating  to  the  better  part 
of  our  nature,  and  most  helpful  in  repressing  and  re- 
straining the  worse?  Which  is  most  likely  to  excite  to 
prayer  and  watchfulness?  to  patience  and  self-denial  and 
holy  endeavor?  to  inward  and  persevering  conflict  with 
the  foes  of  our  own  household?  Which  is  the  most 
wholesome  doctrine  to  preach  ?— jjjygjfcti^aost  benign 

S*  OP  THB^% 

rn»iTTRRSTTVf 


124  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

in  its  practical  tendency  and  effects?  It  is  not  difficult, 
I  think,  to  answer  these  questions.  And  let  us  remember 
that  "a  good  tree  cannot  bring  forth  evil  fruit,  neither 
can  a  corrupt  tree  bring  forth  good  fruit.' '  Nor  is  it 
possible  for  a  false  doctrine  to  exert  upon  the  hearts  and 
lives  of  men  a  more  benign  influence  than  the  truth. 


IX. 

DISPLA  YS  OF  THE  DIVINE  BENIGNITY  IN  HELL. 

MAN  alone,  of  all  created  beings,  is  endowed  with 
Liberty  and  Rationality.  These  are  the  properly 
human  faculties.  Without  them  he  would  not  be  man. 
These  are  the  faculties  which  alone  render  him  morally 
accountable.  Without  them,  he  would  have  been  inca- 
pable of  either  sin  or  holiness ;  and  to  have  been  inca- 
pable of  these,  he  must  have  been  something  other  than 
man — a  very  different  being  from  what  he  is. 

Why  is  not  the  wolf  or  the  bear  morally  responsible  ? 
Why  is  every  other  creature  incapable  of  sin  ?  Simply 
because  man  alone  is  endowed  with  what  belongs  to  no 
other  creature — a  moral  sense — the  power  to  discrimi- 
nate and  the  liberty  to  choose  between  justice  and  injus- 
tice, right  and  wrong;  or  in  other  words,  with  the 
faculties  of  rationality  and  liberty,  which  alone  distin- 
guish him  from  the  brute  creation  and  make  him  man. 

But  the  very  possession  of  these  faculties  involves  a 
responsibility  corresponding  in  magnitude  to  the  dignity 
and  worth  of  the  endowment.  It  involves,  moreover, 
the  liability  of  their  abuse  and  utter  perversion  by  the 

11*  125 


126  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

possessor,  and  the  possibility,  therefore,  of  a  spiritual 
lapse.  And  this  must  have  been  foreseen  by  the  great 
Giver  of  these  faculties.     And  now  comes  the  question  : 

What  shall  be  done  with  a  man  when  he  fails  to  dis 
charge  the  obligations  which  the  gift  bestowed  on  him 
imposes? — when  he  abuses  his  properly  human  faculties, 
and  yields  to  the  promptings  of  his  lower,  carnal,  animal 
nature,  regardless  of  his  obligations  as  a  morally  ac- 
countable being?  What  provision  should  infinite  Love 
and  Wisdom  make  for  those  who  violate,  and  persist  in 
violating,  the  laws  of  their  spiritual  or  properly  human 
nature?  To  say  that  their  condition  will  be  the  same  and 
their  happiness  the  same  in  the  Hereafter,  as  if  they  had 
faithfully  obeyed  these  laws,  is  to  utter  what  every  en- 
lightened mind  sees  to  be  absurd.  As  reasonably  might 
one  maintain  that  no  penalty  ought  to  be  attached  to  the 
violation  of  physical  laws;  that  men  ought  to  be  per- 
mitted to  eat  arsenic  without  being  poisoned ;  to  handle 
red  hot  iron  without  being  burned ;  to  leap  from  the  top 
of  Bunker  Hill  monument  without  being  bruised ;  or  to 
stick  their  bodies  full  of  pins  without  suffering  pain. 
There  is  everywhere  and  always  a  penalty  attached  to  the 
violation  of  law.  This  is  both  wise  and  right.  Other- 
wise laws  would  be  without  meaning  and  without  force. 

But  infinite  Love  must  make  the  best  possible  provision 
which  infinite  Wisdom  can  suggest,  for  those  who  abuse 
their  human  faculties,  and  obstinately  persist  in  violating 
the  laws  of  their  spiritual  being.     It  is  bound  by  its  very 


THE  DIVINE  BENIGNITY  DISPLAYED.       1 27 

nature  to  do  this.  And  who  can  doubt  that  it  will  do  it  ? 
The  illumined  Swedenborg  assures  us  that  it  actually  does 
do  it;  and  he  tells  us  how.  Nothing  can  exceed  the 
extent  and  beauty  of  the  Divine  beneficence,  as  dis- 
played in  the  provision  made  for  those  in  the  other 
world,  who,  by  a  life  of  evil  here  on  earth,  have  con- 
firmed themselves  in  a  state  of  opposition  to  the  Divine, 
and  to  the  laws  of  their  own  inner  and  heavenly  life. 

"Life  is  love,"  is  a  remark  often  made  by  Sweden- 
borg. And  a  man's  ruling  love  is  his  life.  His  cha- 
racter is  according  to  the  nature  of  this  love ; — pure  and 
heavenly  if  the  love  be  pure ;  vile  and  infernal  if  the 
love  be  selfish.  The  ruling  love  is  the  inner  and  ever 
active  force,  perpetually  working  to  mould  the  whole 
outer  man — his  words,  tones,  looks  and  actions — into 
perfect  correspondence  with  itself. 

Look  at  the  face  of  an  inveterate  miser.  How  visibly 
is  the  spirit  that  prompts  and  sways  him  imprinted  there  ! 
Or  that  of  the  confirmed  inebriate — is  it  not  the  very 
image  of  bestiality?  Or  listen  to  the  tones  of  the  hard- 
hearted, cruel  and  malignant — are  they  not  in  perfect 
agreement  with  the  affections  from  which  they  proceed  ? 
So  with  hate,  revenge,  jealousy,  despair — every  strong 
passion  or  deep  feeling  long  indulged — its  manifest  tend- 
ency is  to  mould  the  countenance  and  the  whole  outer 
man  into  perfect  correspondence  with  itself.  And  on 
the  other  hand  who  has  not  seen  the  very  beauty,  bright- 
ness and  joy  of  heaven  beaming  from  the  face  of  one  in 


128  NEW   VIEW  OE  HELL. 

whose  heart  love  to  the  Lord  and  the  neighbor  has  long 
been  the  ruling  principle  of  action  ? 

Now  under  the  operation  of  this  law — a  law  too  gener- 
ally recognized  and  too  long  established  to  be  for  a  mo- 
ment called  in  question — what  ought  to  be  the  appear- 
ance of  evil  spirits  in  the  other  world,  where  infernal 
loves  have  taken  full  possession  of  their  souls,  from  centre 
to  circumference?  Why,  they  ought  to  be  monsters  in 
form  as  they  are  in  feeling  and  purpose.  Their  looks 
and  tones  ought  to  be  the  true  expression  of  the  infernal 
loves  that  rule  them.     Accordingly  Swedenborg  says : 

"All  the  spirits  in  the  hells,  when  inspected  in  any 
degree  of  heavenly  light,  appear  in  the  form  of  their 
own  evil ;  for  every  one  there  is  the  effigy  of  his  own 
evil,  because  with  every  one  the  interiors  and  exteriors 
act  in  unity, — the  interiors  exhibiting  themselves  visibly 
in  the  exteriors,  which  are  the  face,  the  body,  the  speech, 
and  the  gestures.  Thus  their  quality  is  known  as  soon 
as  they  are  seen.  In  general,  they  are  forms  of  con- 
tempt of  others ;  of  menace  against  those  who  do  not 
pay  them  respect ;  of  hatred  of  various  kinds ;  also  of 
various  kinds  of  revenge.  Ferocity  and  cruelty  from 
their  interiors  are  transparent  through  those  forms.  But 
when  others  commend,  honor,  and  worship  them,  their 
faces  are  contracted,  and  have  an  appearance  of  gladness 
arising  from  delight.  It  is  impossible  to  describe  in  a 
few  words  all  those  forms,  as  they  actually  appear,  for  no 
one  of  them  is  similar  to  another.     Among  those,  how- 


THE  DIVINE  BENIGNITY  DISPLA  YED.       1 29 

ever,  who  are  in  a  similar  evil,  and  thence  in  a  similar 
infernal  society,  there  is  a  general  likeness,  from  which, 
as  from  a  plane  of  derivation,  the  faces  of  all  there 
appear  to  bear  a  certain  resemblance  to  each  other.  In 
general,  their  faces  are  hideous,  and  void  of  life  like 
corpses;  in  some  cases  they  are  black;  in  others  they 
are  fiery  like  little  torches;  in  others,  disfigured  with 
pimples,  warts,  and  ulcers.  .  .  .  Their  bodies  also  are 
monstrous ;  and  their  speech  is  like  the  speech  of  anger, 
hatred,  or  revenge, — for  every  one  speaks  from  his  own 
falsity,  and  in  a  tone  corresponding  to  his  own  evil.  In 
a  word,  they  are  all  images  of  their  own  hell." — Heaven 
and  Hell,  n.  553. 

And  mark  here  the  unspeakable  love  and  mercy  of  the 
Lord  ! — the  wonderful  display  of  the  Divine  benignity  ! 
The  devils  are  not  permitted  to  see  themselves  or  each 
other  as  the  hideous  creatures  they  really  are.  They 
only  appear  under  these  disgusting  and  loathsome  forms 
when  seen,  as  Swedenborg  saw  them,  in  the  light  of 
heaven ;  for  this  light  alone  reveals  the  real  quality  of 
persons  and  things.  Seen  in  the  false  and  fatuous  glare 
of  hell,  nothing  appears  as  it  really  is.  And  so  the  true 
character  of  the  devils — their  internal  and  external  de- 
formity— is  mercifully  concealed  from  themselves  and 
from  each  other.  Their  dreadful  wickedness  does  not 
seem  to  them  wickedness,  but  praiseworthy  shrewdness. 
Their  unmitigated  foolishness  seems  to  them  not  foolish- 
ness at  all,  but  rarest  wisdom.     They  do  not  appear  to 

I 


130  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

each  other  like  the  horrid  monsters  they  are,  but  like  a 
very  respectable  class  of  people.  In  their  own  light,  and 
to  each  other's  eyes,  they  look  not  hideous  but  quite 
human.  Their  bitter  and  fiendish  tones  have  in  them 
nothing  harsh  or  grating  to  each  other's  ears;  on  the 
contrary  they  seem  quite  agreeable  and  even  musical  to 
them.  Accordingly  Swedenborg,  after  describing  the 
loathsome  appearance  of  the  devils  as  seen  by  himself  in 
the  clear  light  of  heaven,  adds : 

"It  is,  however,  to  be  observed,  that  such  is  the  ap- 
pearance of  infernal  spirits  when  seen  in  the  light  of 
heaven;  but  among  themselves  they  appear  like  men. 
This  is  of  the  Lord's  mercy,  that  they  may  not  appear  as 
loathsome  to  each  other  as  they  do  to  the  angels.  But 
this  appearance  is  a  fallacy ;  for  as  soon  as  a  ray  of  light 
from  heaven  is  let  in,  their  human  forms  are  turned  into 
monstrous  ones,  such  as  they  are  in  reality,  as  described 
above ;  for  in  the  light  of  heaven  everything  appears  as  it 
really  is." — Ibid. 

Again  he  says : 

"  Among  the  wonderful  things  which  exist  in  the  other 
life,  this  also  is  one :  that,  when  the  angels  of  heaven 
look  into  evil  spirits,  these  latter  have  a  totally  different 
appearance  from  what  they  have  when  seen  among  them- 
selves. Among  themselves  and  in  their  own  fatuous 
light,  which  is  like  that  of  a  coal  fire,  as  before  re- 
marked, they  appear  to  themselves  in  a  human  form,  and 
also,  according  to  their  fantasies,  not  without  beauty ; 


THE  DIVINE  BENIGNITY  DISPLAYED.       131 

but  when  the  same  spirits  are  looked  into  by  the  angels 
of  heaven,  that  light  is  instantly  dissipated,  and  they  ap- 
pear with  entirely  different  faces,  each  according  to  his 
character ;  some  dusky  and  black  as  devils ;  some  with 
pale  ghastly  faces  like  corpses; — some  like  skeletons; 
and,  more  wonderful  still,  some  like  monsters,  the  de- 
ceitful like  serpents,  and  the  most  deceitful  like  vipers ; 
and  others  in  other  forms.  But  as  soon  as  the  angels 
remove  their  sight  from  them,  they  appear  in  their  above 
mentioned  forms,  which  they  have  when  seen  in  their 
own  light." — Arcana  Ccelestia  n.  4533.  See  also  A.  C. 
4798.-— H.  H.  481. 

A  wonderful  display,  indeed,  is  it  of  the  Lord's  un- 
speakable love  and  mercy,  that  He  does  not  permit  in- 
fernal spirits  to  see  themselves  or  one  another  as  they 
really  are ! 

And  we  have  similar  illustrations  of  the  Divine  be- 
nignity here  on  earth.  The  desperately  wicked  never 
see  their  own  moral  deformity.  Their  eyes  are  blinded 
out  of  tenderest  mercy  toward  them;  for  to  see  them- 
selves as  they  appear  in  the  light  of  heaven,  would  cause 
them  unutterable  agony.  Take  any  class  of  the  most 
hardened  villains  you  can  find — those  of  a  character 
nearest  allied  to  that  of  devils,  such  as  gamblers,  thieves, 
swindlers,  murderers,  fornicators,  pimps,  pirates — does 
any  one  imagine  that  these  people  see  themselves  to  be 
the  dreadful  creatures  they  really  are  ?  Have  they  any 
idea   of  their  terrible  moral   deformity?     Not  one   of 


I32  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

them,  in  their  ordinary  evil  state.  How  can  they  ?  for 
they  are  not  in  the  all-revealing  light  of  heaven,  but  in 
the  fatuous  light  of  hell ;  and  this  light  which  is  real 
darkness,  forever  blinds  and  bewilders.  In  their  own 
infernal  light,  these  fellows  appear  to  each  other  very 
respectable — appear,  indeed,  like  men ;  but  in  the  light 
of  the  Divine  Word,  or  as  viewed  by  heavenly  minded 
people,  they  appear  not  as  men  but  as  monsters. 

And  not  only  are  the  faces  and  the  whole  personal  ap- 
pearance of  the  devils  in  exact  correspondence  with  their 
evil  loves,  but  all  their  surroundings  exist  under  the 
very  same  law,  and  are  produced  in  the  same  way.  All 
the  objects  they  look  upon  are  but  the  embodied  forms 
of  their  own  evil  loves.  So  that  their  whole  outward  or 
phenomenal  world  is  a  perfect  reflection,  under  the  law 
of  correspondence,  of  their  internal  or  spiritual  condi- 
tion. 

Accordingly  we  are  told  that  the  devils  appear  clad  in 
filthy  and  tattered  garments ;  that  they  dwell  in  deserts, 
bogs,  and  miry  places — some  of  them  in  caves  and  dens 
like  those  of  wild  beasts ;  that  among  the  objects  by  which 
they  are  surrounded,  are  dreary  deserts,  rocky  and  barren 
wastes,  thorns  and  thistles,  ferocious  beasts  and  venom- 
ous reptiles,  dirty  pools  and  heaps  of  filth.  And  these 
things  (all  of  which  are  spiritual  in  their  nature)  are  but 
the  embodied  forms,  under  the  law  of  correspondence, 
of  the  filthy  and  infernal  loves  of  the  evil  spirits  them- 
selves.    To  quote  again  from  Swedenborg : 


THE  DIVINE  BENIGNITY  DISPLAYED.       1 33 

"  How  the  delights  of  every  one's  life  are  turned  into 
corresponding  delights  after  death,  may  indeed  be  known 
from  the  science  of  correspondences ;  but  because  that 
science  is  not  yet  generally  known,  I  will  illustrate  the 
subject  by  some  examples  from  experience. 

"All  those  who  are  in  evil,  and  have  confirmed  them- 
selves in  falsities  against  the  truths  of  the  church,  and 
especially  those  who  have  rejected  the  Word,  shun  the 
light  of  heaven,  and  betake  themselves  to  subterranean 
places,  which  through  the  openings  appear  very  dark, 
and  to  the  clefts  of  rocks,  and  there  hide  themselves. 
And  they  seek  such  retreats  because  they  have  loved 
falsities  and  hated  truths ;  for  such  caverns,  and  clefts  of 
rocks,  and  darkness  also,  correspond  to  falsities,  and 
light  corresponds  to  truth.  It  is  their  delight  to  dwell 
in  such  places,  and  undelightful  to  them  to  dwell  in  open 
plains. 

"In  like  manner  do  those  who  have  taken  delight  in 
clandestine  and  insidious  plots,  and  in  the  secret  con- 
trivance of  fraudulent  schemes ;  these,  too,  are  in  those 
caverns,  and  enter  into  chambers  so  dark  that  they  can- 
not even  see  one  another,  and  there  they  whisper  in  each 
other's  ears  in  corners.  This  is  what  the  delight  of  their 
love  is  turned  into. 

"They  who  have  studied  the  sciences  with  no  other 
end  than  to  acquire  the  reputation  of  learning,  and  who 
have  not  cultivated  their  rational  faculty  by  means  of 
them,  and  have  taken  delight  in  the  things  of  memory 

12 


134  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

from  pride  thence  derived,  love  sandy  places,  which  they 
choose  in  preference  to  fields  and  gardens,  because  sandy 
places  correspond  to  such  studies. 

"  They  who  have  been  acquainted  with  the  doctrinals 
of  their  own  church  and  of  others,  and  have  not  applied 
any  of  their  knowledge  to  life,  choose  for  themselves 
rocky  places,  and  dwell  among  heaps  of  stones,  shunning 
places  that  are  cultivated,  because  they  dislike  them. 

"They  who  have  ascribed  all  things  to  nature,  and 
they  also  who  have  ascribed  all  things  to  their  own  pru- 
dence, and  who  by  various  artifices  have  raised  them- 
selves to  honors,  and  have  acquired  wealth,  apply  them- 
selves in  the  other  life  to  the  study  of  magical  arts, 
which  are  abuses  of  divine  order,  and  find  therein  the 
highest  delight  of  their  life.  They  who  have  applied 
divine  truths  to  gratify  their  own  loves,  and  thus  have 
falsified  them,  love  urinous  places  and  odors,  because 
these  correspond  to  the  delights  of  such  love. 

"They  who  have  been  sordidly  avaricious,  dwell  in 
huts,  and  love  swinish  filth,  and  such  nidorous  exhalations 
as  proceed  from  indigested  substances  in  the  stomach. 
They  who  have  passed  their  life  in  mere  pleasures,  have 
lived  delicately,  and  indulged  their  appetites,  prizing 
such  enjoyments  as  the  highest  good  of  life,  love  excre- 
mentitious  things  and  privies  in  the  other  life.  These  are 
delightful  to  them,  because  such  pleasures  are  spiritual 
filth.  They  shun  places  that  are  clean  and  free  from 
dirt,  because  such  places  are  undelightful  to  them." 


THE  DIVINE  BENIGNITY  DISPLAYED,       1 35 

Here,  again,  we  are  called  to  admire  the  unspeakable 
love  and  mercy  of  the  Lord  as  manifested  toward  those 
in  the  other  world  who  are  "  enemies  to  him  by  wicked 
works. ' '  For  we  must  remember  that  all  the  objects  which 
greet  their  senses — though  in  reality  just  as  Swedenborg 
has  described  them — appear  very  different  to  the  devils 
from  what  they  did  to  him,  or  from  what  they  do  to  our 
imagination — for  we  are  able  to  contemplate  them  in  some 
degree  of  heavenly  light.  The  regions  they  inhabit  are 
certainly  dismal  enough  ;  but  not  dismal  to  them.  All  the 
objects  by  which  they  are  surrounded,  are  really  hideous 
and  loathsome  to  angelic  natures;  but  not  hideous  or 
loathsome  to  them.  The  odors  they  inhale,  so  fetid  and 
offensive  to  angels,  are  by  no  means  offensive  to  them. 
On  the  contrary  the  devils  find  these  things  quite  agree- 
able and  even  delightful ;  for  they  accord  perfectly  with 
their  nature ;  they  agree  with  their  desires  or  loves ;  they 
are  in  exact  correspondence  with  their  life. 

Everywhere  and  always  life  seeks  that  which  is  in 
agreement  with  its  nature.  Nothing  else  will  satisfy  its 
cravings.  Such  is  the  nature  of  the  devils,  that  the 
scenery  of  hell,  so  dismal  and  repulsive  to  our  imagin- 
ation, is  quite  agreeable  to  them  ; — more  beautiful,  indeed, 
to  their  eyes  than  would  be  the  splendors  and  magnifi- 
cence of  heaven.  Their  life  being  what  it  is — degraded, 
bestial,  infernal — the  objects  that  surround  them  are  the 
very  ones  with  which  they  are  best  pleased  ;  for  they  suit 
their  tastes,  being  in  perfect  correspondence  with  their 


13^  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

life.  To  them,  their  dens  and  caverns  seem  preferable 
to  the  most  gorgeous  palaces  of  heaven ;  their  filthy  rags 
more  seemly  than  the  shining  garments  of  the  angels ; 
their  fetid  stenches  more  grateful  to  their  nostrils  than 
would  be  the  sweetest  perfume  from  the  gardens  of  the 
blest.  "It  is  delightful  to  the  devils,"  says  Swedenborg, 
"  to  inhabit  such  places  [as  caverns  and  clefts  of  the 
rocks],  and  ^//delightful  to  them  to  dwell  in  open  fields." 
"They  love  sandy  places,  and  prefer  them  to  fields  and 
gardens."  "They  love  mean  and  squalid  brothels." 
"They  love  the  filth  of  swine."  "They  love  urinous 
places  and  scents,  because  these  things  correspond  to  the 
delights  of  their  life." 

I  am  aware  that  this  will  sound  very  strange  to  minds 
much  confirmed  in  the  old  ideas.  It  will  seem  to  them 
utterly  incredible  that  such  unsightly  and  disgusting  ob- 
jects as  those  above  mentioned,  should  be  delightful  to 
the  devils.  But  they  will  see  upon  reflection  that  nothing 
could  be  more  reasonable.  For  are  there  not  animals 
that  delight  in  just  such  sights  and  smells  here  on  earth  ? 
If  so,  then  these  things  are  agreeable  to  some  kinds  of 
life.  They  are  in  perfect  correspondence  with  some 
natures,  as  truly  so  as  beautiful  gardens  and  the  perfume 
of  sweetest  flowers  are  in  correspondence  with  the  nature 
of  angels.  To  crows  and  kites  the  smell  of  carrion  is 
not  unpleasant,  but  delightful.  Owls  and  bats  prefer 
darkness  to  light.  Mire  and  filth  are  not  unsightly,  but 
beautiful  to  the  eyes  of  swine ;  and  the  stench  of  their  own 


THE  DIVINE  BENIGNITY  DISPLAYED.       1 37 

stye  is  quite  agreeable  to  their  nostrils.  Serpents  and 
vipers  love  the  clefts  of  rocks ;  foxes  love  deserts ;  rats 
prefer  cellars  and  subterranean  regions  ;  turtles  and  croc- 
odiles seek  marshy  places ;  and  to  the  eyes  of  wolves  and 
bears  their  own  dens,  undoubtedly,  seem  more  beautiful 
and  home-like  than  would  the  palaces  of  kings. 

Who  cannot  see  that  the  things  which  such  creatures 
prefer  for  food,  the  odors  they  delight  to  inhale,  and  the 
places  they  love  to  inhabit,  affect  their  senses  in  a  man- 
ner very  different  from  what  they  do  ours?  And  the 
only  reason  to  be  assigned  is,  that  their  life  is  very  dif- 
ferent from  the  properly  human.  Their  loves  and  conse- 
quent tastes  are  different  from  ours.  And  they  choose 
and  delight  in  what  is  agreeable  to  their  life,  as  we  do 
what  is  agreeable  to  ours.     Says  Swedenborg : 

"The  delights  belonging  to  the  lusts  of  evil,  and  those 
belonging  to  affections  for  the  good,  cannot  be  com- 
pared ;  because  resident  within  the  former,  is  the  devil, 
and  within  the  latter  is  the  Lord.  If  a  comparison  must 
be  drawn,  the  delights  of  the  lusts  of  evil  can  only  be 
compared  to  the  lasciviousness  of  frogs  in  ponds,  and  of 
serpents  in  slimy  places ;  while  the  delights  of  affections 
for  the  good  may  be  compared  to  mental  delights  in 
gardens  and  flowers.  For  things  similar  to  those  which 
are  pleasing  to  frogs  and  serpents,  are  also  pleasing  to 
those  in  the  hells  who  are  in  the  lusts  of  evil ;  and 
things  similar  to  those  which  are  pleasing  to  the  mind 
in  gardens  and  flowers,  are  also  pleasing  to  those  in  the 
12* 


13S  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

heavens  who  are  in  affections  for  the  good.  For  as 
before  stated,  unclean  correspondences  are  pleasing  to 
the  evil,  and  clean  correspondences  to  the  good." — Di- 
vine Providence  n.  40. 

And  are  there  not,  even  in  this  world,  people  who 
seem  to  prefer  disorder,  filth  and  squalor,  to  order,  neat- 
ness and  cleanliness?  Have  you  never  seen  persons, 
who,  if  they  were  presented  with  the  most  magnificent 
habitation,  filled  and  surrounded,  too,  with  everything 
beautiful,  and  arranged  in  the  most  orderly  and  tasteful 
manner,  would,  if  left  to  do  precisely  as  they  pleased, 
convert  that  palatial  residence  into  a  vile  and  loathsome 
place  in  less  than  six  months?  Are  there  not  some 
whose  nature  (inherited,  or  acquired  by  habit,)  is  so 
near  akin  to  that  of  certain  animals,  that  they  would 
very  soon  convert  the  sweetest  and  most  lovely  place 
of  abode,  into  a  squalid  and  disgusting  stye?  Their 
nature  is  such  that  cleanliness  and  order  seem  far  less 
agreeable  to  them,  than  filth  and  disorder.  And,  place 
them  where  you  will,  they  will  very  soon  reduce  all  their 
surroundings  to  a  condition  that  will  reveal  with  great 
clearness  the  state  of  their  own  minds.  So  on  the  other 
hand,  place  people  of  refinement  and  culture  in  the 
humblest  cabin,  and  they  will  soon  make  that  cabin 
reveal  to  the  careful  observer  something  of  their  refined 
and  cultivated  tastes.  And  the  reason  of  this  is,  that  every 
kind  of  life  is  delighted  with,  and  therefore  seeks,  mat 
which  corresponds  with  its  own  nature. 


THE  DIVINE  BENIGNITY  DISPLAYED.       139 

But  it  does  not  appear  after  all,  some  may  say,  how 
the  devils,  having  once  been  men  in  the  natural  world, 
can  find  delight  in  things  which  here  on  earth  are  known 
to  be  agreeable  only  to  a  low  order  of  animals. 

It  does  not?  Let  the  reader  reflect  for  a  moment. 
What  has  made  those  people  devils?  What  kind  of  life 
is  theirs? — the  life,  too,  that  they  have  freely  chosen? 
It  is  not  angelic  life.  It  is  not  properly  human.  It  is 
the  life  of  self  and  sense — mere  corporeal  or  animal, 
not  celestial  life.  They  have  marred  and  spoiled  their 
truly  human  life ;  or  have  suffered  it  to  become  stifled 
and  overrun  by  a  rank  luxuriance  of  thorns  and  thistles 
and  noxious  weeds,  which,  if  not  carefully  and  betimes 
rooted  out,  are  sure  to  spring  up  and  take  possession  of 
the  natural  heart.  Only  a  kind  of  bestial  life,  therefore, 
is  left  them — such  life  as  corresponds  to,  and  forms  the 
very  essence  of,  animals  like  those  above  mentioned. 
This  life,  therefore,  must  from  its  very  nature,  seek  and 
find  delight  in  scenes  and  objects  which  are  agreeable  to 
such  animals. 

Considering  the  nature  of  the  devils,  therefore,  or 
the  kind  of  life  they  have  freely  chosen  and  made  their 
own,  it  is  most  reasonable  that  the  hideous  and  loath- 
some objects  by  which  they  are  surrounded,  should  not 
appear  hideous  or  loathsome  io  them,  but  pleasant  and 
altogether  agreeable ;  for  they  are  all  in  perfect  corre- 
spondence with  their  life's  love.  And  whatever  corre- 
sponds to  this,  is  always  perceived  as  delightful. 


140  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

But  if  this  be  really  so,  some  will  say,  what  is  there, 
after  all,  to  choose  between  heaven  and  hell?  What 
great  advantage  has  one  over  the  other  ?  The  devils, 
you  say,  have  their  delights  as  well  as  the  angels,  though 
they  are  not  delighted  with  precisely  the  same  things. 
They  have  what  is  most  agreeable  to  their  nature.  Their 
surroundings  as  well  as  their  associates  are  such  as  they 
prefer.  They  go  in  freedom  where  they  wish  to  go — 
into  the  society  of  congenial  spirits ;  and  there  they  feel 
quite  at  home.  What  great  inducement  is  there,  then, 
to  strive  for  heaven,  or  to  shun  hell  ? 

It  is  true  that  every  kind  of  love  has  its  delights.  But 
the  nature  of  the  delight  is  according  to  the  quality  of 
the  love.  The  purer  the  love,  the  more  exalted  the 
delight.  The  delights  of  the  devils,  therefore,  as  com- 
pared with  those  of  the  angels,  are  as  the  delights  of 
bears  and  crocodiles  compared  with  those  of  Christ-like 
men ;  yea,  they  are  as  the  sweetness  and  tranquillity  of 
love,  compared  with  the  bitterness  and  unrest  of  hatred. 

Why  is  God  so  unspeakably  happy — the  happiest  Being 
in  the  universe?  Because  He  is  the  best.  Because  his 
love  is  the  purest.  It  is  the  love  of  others  out  of  Him- 
self— the  love  of  imparting  happiness.  And  the  more  a 
man  grows  to  be  like  God — the  more  he  receives  of  His 
unselfish  love,  the  more  does  he  enjoy  of  that  sweet 
peace  which  it  is  in  the  very  nature  of  this  love  to  bestow. 
While  the  less  of  this  love  he  receives — the  more  selfish 
and  tm-Wkt  the  Lord  he  is,  the  more  does  he  experience 


THE  DIVINE  BENIGNITY  DISPLAYED.       141 

of  that  inward  unrest  which  it  is  the  nature  of  this  oppo- 
site love  to  produce. 

Who  that  has  ever  truly  loved — be  it  husband,  mother, 
wife  or  child — does  not  know  that  in  the  exercise  of  dis- 
interested love,  there  is  an  unspeakable  bliss  which  the 
world  cannot  give  ?  The  Lord  promises  peace — his  own 
peace — to  all  who  humbly  acknowledge  Him,  and  wil- 
lingly consecrate  themselves  on  the  altar  of  duty. 
"  Peace  I  leave  with  you,"  says  He  to  all  such — "my 
peace  I  give  unto  you."  There  is  true  peace  nowhere 
but  in  Him  ; — nowhere  but  in  the  reception  and  exercise 
of  his  unselfish  love.  Therefore  He  says:  "In  me  ye 
shall  have  peace.' '  And  when  those  who  have  followed 
Him  in  the  regeneration,  enter  the  spiritual  world  and 
come  more  fully  into  their  life's  love,  they  will  receive 
in  greater  fullness  than  ever  before  the  delights  of  that 
love.  They  will  then  know,  from  the  sweet  seraphic 
joy  that  floods  their  souls,  the  full  meaning  of  the  words, 
"Enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord." 

But  they  who  have  yielded  habitually  to  the  prompt- 
ings of  their  lower  nature,  regardless  of  God  and  the 
good  of  the  neighbor,  and  have  not  denied  self,  taken 
up  the  cross,  and  followed  the  Divine  Master — these, 
when  they  enter  the  other  world,  come  more  fully  into 
the  life  and  delights  of  self-love.  And  what  are  these? 
The  delights  of  fraud,  hatred,  revenge,  adultery,  blas- 
phemy, wickedness  of  every  kind; — delights,  indeed,  to 
those  whose  ruling  love  is  the  love  of  self,  but  torment 


I42  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

and  unmitigated  misery  when  compared  with  the  pure 
ecstatic  delights  of  angelic  love.  Therefore  these  per- 
sons are  represented  as  receiving  the  sentence,  "  Depart 
from  me,  into  everlasting  fire  prepared  for  the  devil  and 
his  angels.' ' 

The  truth,  then,  summarily  stated,  is:  that  all  life, 
from  that  of  the  highest  angel  in  heaven  down  to  that 
of  the  meanest  creature  here  on  earth,  has  its  delights ; 
for  life  is  love,  and  all  love  has  its  delights.  The  degree 
of  happiness  which  each  creature  enjoys,  depends  upon 
the  character  of  his  delights ;  and  the  character  or  ex- 
altation of  his  delights,  depends  on  the  nature  or  quality 
of  his  love.  And  as  far  as  the  human  transcends  in  dig- 
nity the  bestial  life — as  far  as  man  surpasses  the  brute  in 
wisdom  or  in  the  extent  and  variety  of  his  powers,  so  far 
has  he  the  capacity  of  enjoyment  above  (yes,  and  of 
misery  below)  that  of  the  brutes,  and  so  far  does  the 
happiness  of  the  angels  exceed  that  of  the  devils. 

Is  not  this  new  view  of  hell  in  the  highest  degree  ra- 
tional ?  What  can  be  more  reasonable,  (in  view  of  the 
kind  of  life  which  infernal  spirits  have  voluntarily  made 
their  own)  than  that  they  should  be  totally  oblivious  of 
their  own  condition  ? — that  they  should  be  unable  to  see 
themselves  or  one  another  or  the  objects  that  surround 
them,  as  they  really  are  ? — that  everything  should  seem  to 
them  quite  different  from  what  it  is,  and  from  what  it  act- 
ually appears  when  viewed  in  the  light  of  heaven  ? — that 


THE  DIVINE  BENIGNITY  DISPLAYED.       1 43 

they  should  remain  forever  ignorant  of  realities,  and 
spend  an  eternity  in  the  midst  of  shadows  and  phan- 
tasms? (See  Arcana  Coelestia  4623.) 

And  what  unspeakable  benignity  in  our  Heavenly 
Father,  does  this  doctrine  display  !  When  his  children 
have  wandered  far  from  the  way  of  his  commandments ; 
when  they  have  shut  their  souls  against  the  light  of  his 
wisdom  and  the  purity  of  his  love,  and  confirmed  them- 
selves in  a  life  of  evil ;  He  loves  them  still — loves  them 
too  tenderly  to  permit  them  to  see  where  and  what  they 
are.  He  loves  them,  and,  for  their  own  good,  merci- 
fully provides  that  they  remain  forever  oblivious  of  what 
they  were  created  to  be ;  that  they  shall  not  be  permitted 
to  see  themselves  or  each  other  as  monsters,  but  as  men ; 
that  the  loathsome  objects  which  surround  them,  and 
which  their  own  evil  loves  create  by  an  unfailing  law, 
shall  not  seem  loathsome  but  pleasing  to  them  ;  that  they 
shall  still  enjoy  what  they  call  delights — delights,  too,  as 
elevated  as  the  kind  of  life  they  have  formed  for  them- 
selves, will  possibly  admit  of. 

Where  shall  we  find  a  more  striking  display  of  the 
Lord's  infinite  and  unspeakable  mercy,  than  is  presented 
in  the  wonderful  provision  He  has  made  for  the  comfort 
and  highest  welfare  of  the  devils?  His  love  is,  indeed, 
unfathomable.  "  His  mercy  is  forever.' '  Who  can  un- 
fold his  marvelous  loving-kindness?  "Who  can  show 
forth  all  his  praise?" 


144  NEW  VIEW  OF  NELL. 

"The  Lord  is  good  to  all,  and  his  tender  mercies  are 
over  all  his  works." 

"Whither  shall  I  go  from  thy  Spirit?  or  whither  shall 
I  flee  from  thy  presence?  If  I  ascend  up  into  heaven, 
thou  art  there ;  if  I  make  my  bed  in  hell,  beheld,  thou 
art  there." 

"Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said,  Thou  shalt 
love  thy  neighbor  and  hate  thine  enemy. 

"But  I  say  unto  you,  Love  your  enemies,  bless  them 
that  curse  you,  do  good  to  them  that  hate  you,  and  pray 
for  them  which  despitefully  use  you  and  persecute  you ; 

"That  ye  may  be  the  children  of  your  Father  which 
is  in  heaven :  for  He  maketh  his  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil 
and  on  the  good,  and  sendeth  rain  on  the  just  and  on 
the  unjust." 


X. 

IS  HELL    TO    UNDERGO  ANY  CHANGE?     IF  SOt 
OF   WHAT  NATURE? 

SWEDENBORG  has  disclosed  with  great  clearness 
the  condition  of  the  wicked  in  the  other  world. 
Nor  does  he  pretend  to  give  us  merely  his  opinion  on  the 
subject,  but  to  set  forth  what  he  actually  heard  and  saw 
when  his  spiritual  senses  were  opened.  He  has  told  us 
what  sort  of  people  he  found  in  hell,  or  of  whom  it  con- 
sists.    To  cite  his  own  language : 

"  Hell  consists  of  spirits  who,  while  living  in  the 
world,  denied  God,  acknowledged  nature,  lived  contrary 
to  divine  order,  loved  evils  and  falsities  (although  not  so 
much  before  the  world  on  account  of  the  appearance) 
and  who,  therefore,  were  either  insane  in  regard  to  truths, 
or  despised  and  denied  them,  if  not  with  the  mouth,  yet 
in  heart  [and  in  their  lives].  Of  all  such,  who  have 
lived  from  the  creation  of  the  world,  hell  consists." — 
Athanasian  Creed  n.  41. 

The  wickedness  of  the  infernals  is  described  as  terrible 
— surpassing  all  belief.  Speaking  of  their  "  malignity, 
cunning,  fraud,  deceit,  and  cruelty,"  he  says: 

"  These  are  such  and  so  great  that,  if  they  were  told 
13  K  145 


M6  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

only  in  part,  scarcely  an  individual  in  the  world  would 
believe  it.  The  infernals  are  so  cunning  and  artful,  and 
likewise  so  wicked — in  short  they  are  of  such  a  cha- 
racter, that  they  cannot  possibly  be  resisted  by  any  man, 
nor  even  by  any  angel,  but  by  the  Lord  alone  " — A.C. 
6666.  And  speaking  of  those  who  have  lived  wicked 
lives  on  earth,  and  have  interiorly  denied  the  Divine,  he 
says:  "Such  persons  in  the  other  life,  when  they  come 
into  the  state  of  their  interiors,  and  are  heard  to  speak 
and  seen  to  act,  appear  as  if  infatuated ;  for  from  their 
evil  lusts  they  break  out  into  all  manner  of  abomina- 
tions— into  contempt  of  others,  ridicule,  blasphemy, 
hatred  and  revenge.  They  contrive  plans  of  mischief, 
some  of  them  with  such  cunning  and  malice,  that  it  can 
scarcely  be  believed  that  anything  of  the  kind  could 
exist  in  any  man."  "They  lay  snares;  they  cherish 
hatred ;  they  burn  with  revenge,  and  seek  to  vent  their 
rage  against  all  who  do  not  submit  themselves  to  them. 
...  At  last  they  deliberate  with  themselves  how  they 
may  climb  up  into  heaven  so  as  to  destroy  that,  or  be 
worshiped  there  as  gods.  To  such  lengths  does  their 
madness  go.  Those  of  this  class  who  have  been  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  religion,  are  more  insane  than  the  rest.'* 
"[When  on  earth]  they  desired  to  be  worshiped  as 
gods,  and  therefore  burned  with  hatred  and  revenge 
against  all  who  did  not  acknowledge  their  power  over  the 
souls  of  men  and  over  heaven.  They  still  cherished  the 
same  disposition  which  distinguished  them  in  the  world, 


ANY  REFORMATION  THERE?  147 

that  is,  the  same  hatred  and  revenge  against  those  who 
oppose  them.  Their  greatest  delight  is  to  exercise 
cruelty;  but  this  delight  is  turned  against  themselves; 
for  in  their  hells  one  rages  like  a  madman  against  an- 
other who  derogates  from  his  divine  power."  And,  as 
might  be  expected,  "  within  their  habitations,  they  are 
engaged  in  continual  quarrels,  enmities,  blows  and  fight- 
ings, while  in  the  streets  and  lanes  of  their  cities  are  rob- 
beries and  depredations" — Heaven  and  He II  506,  '8,  86. 

Such  is  the  sad  condition  in  the  great  Hereafter  of 
those  who,  while  on  earth,  have  disregarded  and  tram- 
pled on  the  laws  of  their  spiritual  and  heavenly  life,  and 
have  thereby  brought  themselves  into  a  state  to  love 
darkness  rather  than  light,  and  evil  rather  than  good. 
And  the  ruling  love,  we  are  told,  can  never  be  changed 
in  the  other  world. 

Swedenborg  has  told  us  of  various  kinds  of  hells  which 
he  was  permitted  to  inspect* — for  no  two  of  the  infernal 
societies  are  precisely  alike ;  and  their  punishments  are 

*  In  order  that  he  might  learn  the  actual  state  of  things  in  hell, 
from  his  own  personal  observation,  he  says :  "  I  was  sometimes  let 
down  thither.  To  be  let  down  into  hell,  is  not  to  be  translated  from 
one  place  to  another;  but  it  is  an  immission  into  some  infernal  so- 
ciety, while  the  person  remains  in  the  same  place."  On  one  of 
these  occasions,  he  continues,  "  I  clearly  perceived  that  a  kind  of 
column,  as  it  were,  encompassed  me,  which  became  sensibly 
stronger ;  and  I  perceived  also  that  this  was  the  wall  of  brass  spoken 
of  in  the  Word,  formed  of  angelic  spirits,  in  order  that  I  might  be 
let  down  in  safety  among  the  unhappy." — Arcana  Calestia  699. 


14$  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

as  various  as  their  characters,  but  admirably  adapted  to 
their  states  and  needs.  Thus  he  speaks  of  "  the  hells  of 
those  who  have  spent  their  lives  in  hatred,  revenge,  and 
cruelty;"  of  "the  hells  of  those  who  have  lived  in  adul- 
tery and  lasciviousness;"  of  "the  hells  of  the  deceit- 
ful ;"  of  "the  hells  of  the  covetous  and  of  robbers;"  of 
"the  hells  of  those  who  have  lived  in  merely  carnal 
pleasures,"  etc.  And  while  the  ruling  spirit  and  general 
features  of  them  all  are  the  same,  each  has  its  peculiar- 
ities. Without  attempting  any  detail  of  these,  I  will 
quote  one  or  two  passages  from  his  account  of  "the  hells 
of  those  who  have  passed  their  lives  in  adulteries  and 
lasciviousness,"  and  leave  the  reader  to  form  his  own 
judgment. 

"Those  who  find  their  chief  delight  in  the  spoils  of 
virginity,  having  no  regard  to  marriage  or  issue,  and 
who,  after  compassing  their  lustful  ends,  conceive  an 
aversion  for  their  victims,  and  then  leave  them  to  prosti- 
tution, suffer  the  most  grievous  punishment  in  the  other 
world.  For  their  life  is  contrary  to  all  order,  natural, 
spiritual,  and  celestial.  Not  only  is  it  contrary  to  con- 
jugial  love,  which  in  heaven  is  accounted  most  holy,  but 
also  to  innocence,  which  they  wound  and  destroy  by  se- 
ducing innocent  beings  into  a  course  of  prostitution,  who 
might  have  been  initiated  into  conjugial  love;  for  the 
first  delights  of  love,  as  is  well  known,  introduce  virgins 
to  chaste  conjugial  love,  and  conjoin  the  minds  of  mar- 
ried   partners.     And   since   the   sanctity   of   heaven    is 


ANY  REFORMATION  THERE?  149 

founded  on  conjugial  love,  and  on  innocence,  the  de- 
stroyers of  such  love  must  needs  be  murderers  interiorly." 

And  after  giving  some  account  of  the  terrible  punish- 
ment which  this  class  of  persons  have  to  suffer  in  the 
other  world,  he  continues : 

"This  punishment  returns  many  times  for  a  hundred 
and  a  thousand  years,  until  they  become  affected  with 
horror  at  these  lusts.  I  have  been  informed  that  the  off- 
spring of  such  parents  are  worse  than  other  children  on 
account  of  their  constitution,  derived  hereditarily  from 
the  father,  partaking  of  his  nature.  Therefore  children 
are  seldom  born  from  such  connections ;  or  if  they  are, 
they  do  not  remain  long  in  this  world." — A.  C.  828. 

And  what  does  he  say  of  the  innocent  victims  of  these 
wicked  persons,  some  of  whom  he  met  in  the  other 
world  ? 

"There  are  young  girls  who  have  been  enticed  to 
prostitution,  and  persuaded  that  there  was  no  evil  in  it, 
who  in  other  respects  were  well  disposed.  These,  not 
having  yet  attained  to  an  age  capable  of  knowing  and 
judging  correctly  of  the  nature  of  this  kind  of  life,  have 
a  certain  instructor  set  over  them  in  the  other  world,  who 
is  very  severe,  and  chastises  them  whenever  they  give 
their  thoughts  to  such  wantonness,  and  of  whom  they  are 
much  afraid.  In  this  way  they  become  vastated."  That 
is,  they  are  carried  through  a  certain  reformatory  course 
of  discipline;  and  "when  the  time  of  vastation  is  over, 
they  are  taken  up  into  heaven  ;  and  being  novitiates, 
13* 


t$0  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

they  are  instructed  in  the  truths  of  faith  by  the  angels 
among  whom  they  are  received.' ' — A.  C.  1106,  '13. 

But  very  different  is  it  with  another  class  of  females 
whom  he  met  in  the  spiritual  world,  and  who  were,  when 
on  earth,  persons  of  most  captivating  manners,  but  de- 
ceitful, ambitious  and  destitute  of  conscience. 

"  There  are  some  of  the  female  sex  who  have  lived  in 
the  indulgence  of  their  inclinations,  regarding  only 
themselves  and  the  world,  and  making  the  sum  total  of 
life  and  its  delights  to  consist  in  external  decorum,  in 
consequence  of  which  they  have  been  particularly  es- 
teemed in  polished  society.  They  have  thus,  by  prac- 
tice, acquired  the  power  of  insinuating  themselves  into 
the  good  graces  of  others  by  specious  pretences  and  a 
fair  exterior,  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  an  ascendency 
over  them.  Hence  their  life  has  been  one  of  simulation 
and  deceit.  They  used  to  frequent  churches  like  other 
people,  but  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  appear  upright 
and  pious ;  being,  moreover,  destitute  of  conscience, 
and  extremely  prone  to  wickedness  and  adulteries  when 
able  to  conceal  them.  Such  persons  in  the  other  world 
think  as  they  did  here,  not  knowing  what  conscience  is, 
and  making  a  mock  of  those  who  speak  of  it.  They 
enter  into  the  affections  of  others  by  a  pretended  hon- 
esty, piety,  compassion,  and  innocence,  which  with 
them  are  a  means  of  deceiving ;  and  whenever  external 
restraints  are  removed,  they  plunge  into  the  most  wicked 
and  obscene  practices.     These  are  they  who  in  the  other 


ANY  REFORMATION   THERE?  15 1 

world  become  enchantresses  or  sorceresses,  some  of 
whom  are  denominated  sirens,  who  become  expert  in 
arts  unknown  on  earth.' ' 

Some  of  these  arts  are  described.  "  They  can  assume 
the  likeness  of  others"  at  will.  By  cunning  artifice 
"  they  can  inspire  every  one  with  an  affection  for  them." 
"They  have  the  power  of  representing  to  the  view  of 
spirits  a  bright  flame  encompassing  the  head,  and  this — 
which  is  an  angelic  token — to  several  at  the  same  mo- 
ment. They  can  feign  innocence  by  various  methods, 
even  by  representing  infants  whom  they  kiss ;  they  also 
excite  others  whom  they  hate  to  murder  them.  .  .  . 
Their  nature  is  so  persuasive  that  no  one  suspects  them  ; 
and  hence  their  ideas  are  not  communicated  like  those 
of  other  spirits;  for  they  have  eyes  resembling  those  as- 
cribed to  serpents,  seeing  every  way  at  once,  and  having 
their  thoughts  present  everywhere. 

"These  sorceresses  or  sirens  are  punished  grievously, 
some  in  Gehenna,  others  in  a  kind  of  court  among  ser- 
pents ;  others  by  being,  as  it  were,  torn  asunder  and  sub- 
jected to  various  collisions  attended  with  intensest  pain 
and  torture." — Ibid.  831. 

And  this,  too,  for  their  own  good.  For  there  is  noth- 
ing of  vindictiveness  in  the  punishments  of  hell.  They 
are  all  repressive,  corrective  and  reformatory  in  their 
design  and  tendency. 

But  will  the  hells  remain  forever  as  they  were  when 
Swedenborg  saw  them  ?     Is  there  to  be  no  change — no 


*52  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

improvement— in  their  condition?  If  so,  of  what  na- 
ture ? — and  how  is  the  improvement  to  be  effected  ?  The 
answer  to  these  questions  has  been  already  anticipated  in 
a  measure ;  but  I  will  endeavor  to  make  it  clearer  and 
more  definite. 

"  The  Lord  is  good  to  all,  and  his  tender  mercies  are 
over  all  his  works.' '  He,  therefore,  has  regard  for,  and 
continually  endeavors  to  promote  the  best  good  even  of 
the  devils.  He  governs  the  hells  as  well  as  the  heavens ; 
and  his  love  and  wisdom  are  as  conspicuous  and  as 
active  in  the  one  realm  as  in  the  other.  But  the  devils 
cannot  be  governed  in  the  same  way,  or  by  the  same 
methods,  as  the  angels.  The  latter,  because  they  love 
the  Lord  above  all  things,  and  their  neighbor  even  better 
than  themselves,  can  be  led  and  governed  by  love — by 
the  love  of  what  is  just  and  true  and  good.  But  the 
former,  since  they  have  no  love  of  the  Lord  or  their 
neighbor,  but  love  themselves  supremely,  can  be  gov- 
erned only  by  fear.  Self-love  is  perpetually  encroaching 
upon  the  rights  of  others ;  perpetually  grasping  at  un- 
limited power;  perpetually  seeking,  not  to  serve  and 
bless  others,  but  to  subjugate  them  to  its  own  control. 
It  is,  therefore,  from  its  very  nature,  forever  threatening 
the  peace  and  welfare  of  the  moral  universe.  And  the 
only  way  this  love  can  be  restrained  in  its  insane  en- 
deavors, is  through  fear — the  fear  of  punishment. 

The  only  way,  therefore,  that  the  Lord  can  reach  the 
hells,  and  exert  upon  them  a  controlling  influence,   is 


ANY  REFORMATION   THERE?  153 

through  the  medium  of  fear.  It  is  in  this  way  that  He 
comes  to,  and  manifests  his  love  for,  the  devils.  He  does 
not  hate  them.  He  does  not  turn  his  face  away  from 
them.  He  does  not  take  delight  in  tormenting  them,  as 
Christians  have  hitherto  believed  and  taught ; — far  from 
it.  On  the  contrary  his  love  for  them  is  like  that  of  a 
kind  and  benignant  father  for  his  disobedient  children, 
only  infinitely  more  tender.  It  is  not  less  strong  for 
them,  than  it  is  for  men  on  earth,  or  even  for  the  angels 
in  heaven ; — no,  nor  less  active  in  its  efforts  to  promote 
their  highest  welfare.  But  because  they  have  quenched 
his  holy  Spirit  in  their  hearts — because  they  have  refused 
to  listen  to  his  loving  voice,  which  evermore  seeks  to 
lead  men  freely  in  the  path  to  heaven,  therefore  they 
must  be  governed  like  wayward  and  rebellious  children. 
They  cannot  be  governed  as  the  angels  are— by  love; 
they  can  only  be  governed  by  fear.  Therefore  the  Lord 
permits  them  to  be  punished  from  time  to  time,  with 
more  or  less  severity  according  to  the  stubbornness  of 
their  dispositions  or  the  measure  of  their  perversity. 
And  this,  too,  for  their  own  good ;  precisely  as  a  wise 
and  loving  father  will  chastise  his  disobedient  children, 
not  because  he  delights  in  causing  them  pain,  but  because 
he  wishes,  for  their  good,  to  subdue  their  rebellious  dis- 
positions, and  prevent  them  from  injuring  themselves  and 
others  through  the  unrestrained  indulgence  of  their 
wrong  inclinations. 

It  is  precisely  in  this  way  that  the  Lord  deals  with  the 


154  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

evil  spirits  in  hell — his  disobedient  and  rebellious  chil- 
dren. He  permits  them  to  suffer  punishment  from  time 
to  time,  but  never  without  an  end  of  use ; — never,  but 
for  their  own  or  others'  good.  As  Swedenborg  says : 
"The  Lord  turns  all  punishment  and  torment  [in  the 
other  life]  to  some  good  use.  It  would  be  impossible 
that  there  should  be  any  such  thing  as  punishment,  un- 
less use  were  the  end  aimed  at  by  the  Lord ;  for  the 
Lord's  kingdom  is  a  kingdom  of  ends  and  uses."  {Ar- 
cana Ccelestia  696.) 

And  this  is  the  use  intended  by  punishment  in  the 
hells,  and  the  use  which  it  actually  accomplishes :  It 
excites  fear  and  dread  by  the  pain  it  produces ;  and  thus 
the  devils  are  constrained,  through  fear  of  punishment, 
to  moderate  their  insanities,  and  restrain  in  some  meas- 
ure their  evil  inclinations.  And  although  the  lust  of 
doing  evil  forever  remains,  yet  the  condition  of  the 
devils  is  rendered  vastly  more  tolerable  when  they  have 
been  reduced  to  a  state  in  which  they  dare  not  do  the 
evil  to  which  they  are  inclined;  and  are  kept  in  this 
state  through  fear  of  punishment. 

Under  a  government  of  fear  and  force,  therefore — the 
only  kind  of  government  suited  to  the  states  of  the  in- 
fernals — and  through  the  instrumentality  of  punishments 
administered  by  divine  permission,  a  change  in  the  con- 
dition of  the  hells  is  perpetually  going  on,  though  not 
such  an  internal  reformation  as  will  result  in  obliterating 


ANY  REFORMATION  THERE?  1 55 

their  existence,  or  in  finally  converting  the  devils  into 
angels.     Swedenborg  says : 

"All  the  inhabitants  of  hell  are  governed  by  fears; 
some,  by  fears  implanted  in  the  world,  which  still  retain 
their  influence ;  but  because  these  fears  are  not  sufficient, 
and  likewise  lose  their  force  by  degrees,  they  are  gov- 
erned by  fear  of  punishment ;  and  this  fear  is  the  princi- 
pal means  of  deterring  them  from  doing  evil.  The 
punishments  in  hell  are  various,  more  mild  or  more 
severe  according  to  the  nature  of  the  evils  to  be  re- 
strained. For  the  most  part  the  more  malignant  who 
excel  in  cunning  and  artifice,  and  are  able  to  keep  the 
rest  in  a  state  of  submission  and  slavery  by  punishments 
and  the  terror  thereby  inspired,  are  set  over  the  others ; 
but  these  governors  dare  not  go  beyond  the  limits  pre- 
scribed to  them.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  fear  of 
punishment  is  the  only  means  of  restraining  the  violence 
and  fury  of  the  hells:  there  is  no  other." — Heaven  and 
J7e//543. 

"They  who  have  not  in  the  world  acknowledged  the 
Lord,  and  that  all  good  and  truth  are  from  Him  and 
nothing  from  man,  cannot  resist  evils  as  of  themselves 
after  death;  for  they  are  in  evils  and  in  the  delight 
thereof  grounded  in  love ;  and  to  resist  the  delight  of 
their  love,  is  to  resist  themselves,  their  own  nature  and 
their  own  life.  On  one  occasion  the  experiment  was 
made  whether  they  were  able  to  resist  evils  while  the 
punishments  of  hell  were  announced  to  them,  yea,  while 


I56  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

they  were  seen  and  likewise  felt ;  but  it  was  in  vain,  for 
they  hardened  their  minds,  saying,  let  come  what  will, 
provided  only  that  we  are  in  the  delight  and  joy  of  our 
hearts  while  we  are  here.  We  shall  not  suffer  more  evil 
than  many  others.  But  after  a  stated  time  they  are  cast  ■ 
into  hell,  where  they  are  compelled  by  punishments  not 
to  do  evil ;  but  punishments  do  not  take  away  the 
will,  the  purpose,  and  consequent  thought  of  evil ; 
they  only  prevent  the  evil  act." — Apocalypse  Explained 
n.  1165. 

"  While  man  lives  in  the  world,  he  is  kept  continually 
in  a  state  capable  of  being  reformed,  provided  he  desists 
from  evil  from  a  free  principle.  But  his  life  follows  him 
after  death,  and  he  remains  in  the  state  which  he  had 
procured  to  himself  by  the  whole  course  of  his  life  in  the 
world.  Then  he  who  was  in  evil,  is  no  longer  capable 
of  being  reformed ;  and  lest  he  should  have  communica- 
tion with  any  society  of  heaven,  all  truth  and  good  are 
taken  away  from  him,  in  consequence  of  which  he  re- 
mains in  the  evil  and  false,  which  principles  increase  ac- 
cording to  the  faculty  of  receiving  them  which  he  has 
acquired  in  the  world ;  but  he  is  not  permitted  to  pass 
beyond  the  acquired  bounds.  .  .  .  His  state  then  is  such 
that  he  cannot  any  longer  be  amended  as  to  his  interiors, 
but  only  as  to  his  exteriors ;  and  this  by  fear  of  punish- 
ments, which,  being  often  repeated,  compel  the  spirit  at 
last  to  abstain  from  evil,  which  he  does,  not  in  freedom 
but  through  compulsion,  the  lust  of  doing  evil  still  re- 


ANY  REFORMATION  THERE?  1 57 

maining ;  this  lust  is  held  in  check  by  fears,  as  was  said, 
which  fears  are  the  external  and  compulsory  means  of 
amendment.  Such  is  the  state  of  the  evil  in  the  other 
life." — Arcana  Ccelestia  6977. 

"Every  evil  spirit  in  the  other  life  brings  punishment 
and  torment  on  himself,  by  casting  himself  into  the 
midst  of  the  diabolical  crew  who  act  as  the  executioners. 
The  Lord  never  sends  any  one  into  hell,  but  desires  to 
bring  all  out  of  hell ;  still  less  does  He  inflict  torment. 
But  as  the  evil  spirit  rushes  into  it  himself,  the  Lord 
turns  all  punishment  and  torment  to  some  good  account. 
There  would  be  no  such  thing  as  punishment  if  use  were 
not  the  end  aimed  at  by  the  Lord ;  for  his  kingdom  is  a 
kingdom  of  ends  and  uses ;  but  the  uses  which  infernal 
spirits  are  able  to  perform  are  most  ignoble ;  yet  when 
they  are  engaged  in  the  performance  of  these  uses,  they 
are  not  in  a  state  of  so  great  misery  [as  at  other  times]." 
—Ibid.  696. 

"  Man  in  the  other  life  enters  into  new  states  and  un- 
dergoes changes.  They  who  are  being  elevated  into 
heaven,  and  afterwards  when  they  have  been  elevated, 
advance  forever  towards  perfection.  But  they  who  are 
being  cast  into  hell,  and  afterwards  when  they  have  been 
cast  in,  endure  sufferings  more  and  more  grievous,  which 
are  continued  until  they  dare  not  do  evil  to  any  one. 
And  afterwards  they  remain  in  hell  to  eternity.  They 
cannot  be  drawn  out,  because  they  cannot  be  gifted  with 
the  ability  to  do  good  to  any  one,  only  not  to  do  m'/from 

14 


I5S  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

fear  of  punishment,  the  lust  of  doing  it  always  remaining.' ' 
—Ibid.  7541. 

Such,  then,  is  the  nature  of  the  change  that  is  going  on 
in  the  hells,  and  such  the  means  by  which  it  is  accom- 
plished. And  even  in  the  punishments  which  are  there 
inflicted,  we  have  a  manifestation  of  the  Divine  benevo- 
lence. For  the  purpose  of  these  is,  the  amelioration  of 
the  condition  of  the  devils ; — an  end  altogether  worthy 
of  infinite  Love,  but  one  which  infinite  Wisdom  sees 
could  not  be  attained  without  the  instrumentality  of  pun- 
ishment. To  withhold  the  exercise  of  this  instrumental- 
ity, therefore,  would  not  be  an  act  of  benevolence,  and 
hence  not  agreeable  to  infinite  Love ;  for  this  Love  for- 
ever regards  the  end  to  be  accomplished,  and  wisely  per- 
mits temporary  suffering  as  a  means  toward  the  attain- 
ment of  that  end. 

Through  the  instrumentality  of  punishments,  therefore, 
severe  and  oft-repeated,  the  hells  are  undergoing  an  im- 
provement not  unlike  that  which  goes  on  in  a  well  gov- 
erned penitentiary  here  on  earth.  They  are  being  re- 
formed outwardly,  but  not  inwardly; — not  as  to  their 
spirit  or  ruling  purpose,  for  no  internal  reformation  is 
ever  effected  by  punishment  or  the  fear  of  it.  All  that 
punishment  can  ever  do,  is  to  intimidate  and  restrain, 
and  so  prevent  the  actual  commission  of  evil  deeds,  the 
disposition  to  commit  them  still  remaining. 

By  means  of  a  strong  police  and  severe  punishments,  a 
community  of  thieves  and  murderers  may  be  restrained, 


ANY  REFORMATION  THERE?  1 59 

and  kept  in  some  degree  of  external  order;  but  theft  and 
murder  (or  the  spirit  that  prompts  them)  still  remain  in 
their  hearts;  and  will  break  forth  into  outward  act  as 
soon  as  the  police  are  out  of  the  way,  or  there  is  no 
longer  any  fear  of  punishment.  You  cannot  drive  love — 
pure,  unselfish  love — into  human  hearts  with  bullets  or 
bludgeons,  by  infantry  or  artillery,  by  cavalry  or  police. 

Our  state  prisons  furnish  a  good  illustration  of  the 
hells  as  described  by  Swedenborg ;  and  the  external  im- 
provement which  has  been  going  on  in  many  of  these  for 
the  last  thirty  years,  through  a  wise  administration  and  a 
firm  government,  will  give  us  some  idea  of  the  nature 
and  extent  of  the  improvement  that  is  going  on  in  the 
hells.  And  while  this  is  not  such  as  will  result  in  finally 
changing  their  essential  character  or  ruling  love,  let  us 
hope  that  it  may,  however,  be  carried  so  far  as  to  render 
the  condition  of  the  devils  quite  tolerable  if  not  happy. 
Let  us  hope  that,  ultimately,  they  may  be  reduced  to 
such  a  state  of  external  order,  that  life — even  the  low 
and  selfish  kind  of  life  which  they  have  chosen  and 
made  their  own — will  be  esteemed  by  them  a  blessing 
and  not  a  curse. 

In  a  community  here  on  earth,  where  a  great  majority 
of  the  people  have  a  conscience  and  are  actuated  by 
principle,  the  sphere  of  law  and  order,  of  justice  and 
right,  is  usually  so  strong  that  there  is  rarely  any  out- 
break of  the  hells  through  the  minority.  These  latter 
are  kept  in  subjection  and  order  by  purely  selfish  and 


Ibo  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

prudential  considerations — from  an  enlightened  regard 
to  their  own  temporal  interests,  or  through  fear  of  dis- 
grace, punishment,  or  worldly  loss  of  some  sort.  So  from 
like  considerations,  and  under  the  rigid  discipline  to 
which  the  devils  are  subjected  and  which  I  have  here 
hastily  outlined,  the  universal  hell  may  ultimately  be 
brought  into  such  complete  subjection  to  the  angelic 
heaven,  (whose  numbers  and  influence,  it  is  believed,  are 
continually  increasing),  that  the  violent  commotions  and 
outbreaks  which  are  now  so  frequent,  will  entirely  cease. 
When  this  takes  place,  we  can  easily  see  that,  although 
the  hells  will  still  remain  unchanged  as  to  their  essential 
nature,  they  will  be  like  the  tamed  tiger — submissive, 
and  therefore  harmless.  We  can  see,  too,  that,  by  their 
subjection  to  the  heaven  of  angels,  or  to  the  emanating 
and  controlling  sphere  of  law  and  order,  their  own  peace 
and  comfort  will  be  increased,  and  the  welfare  of  the 
moral  universe  promoted  to  an  extent  beyond  the  power 
of  imagination  to  conceive. 

Such  is  a  brief  outline  of  the  New  Doctrine  of  Hell ; 
— a  doctrine  which  builds  itself  impregnably  upon  the 
constitution  and  laws  of  the  human  soul,  which  accords 
with  the  teaching  of  sound  philosophy,  with  the  dictates 
of  reason,  with  the  facts  of  history,  with  the  record  of 
human  experience,  and  with  the  teachings  of  Scripture 
rationally  and  spiritually  interpreted. 

How  different  this  doctrine  is  from  the  one  taught  in 


ANY  REFORM  A  TION  THERE  ?  1 6 1 

the  literal  sense  of  the  Word,  and  generally  accepted 
among  Christians  a  hundred  years  ago  !  It  presents  us 
not  with  an  angry  and  vindictive  God  delighting  in  the 
sufferings  of  his  disobedient  children,  but  with  a  tender 
and  loving  Father  pitying  their  infirmities,  and  pursuing 
them  with  outstretched  arms  of  mercy  through  all  their 
wanderings,  and  even  into  the  lowest  depths  of  degrada- 
tion and  sin.  And  if,  in  the  exercise  of  the  freedom 
vouchsafed  to  every  human  being,  they  choose  to  unfold 
only  the  lower  or  sensuous  part  of  their  nature — choose 
to  make  their  bed  in  hell,  behold  the  loving  Father  is 
there,  restraining,  correcting,  controlling  and  governing 
them  in  the  manner  best  suited  to  their  condition  and 
needs;  chastising  them  for  their  own  good,  and  granting 
them  the  enjoyment  of  such  delights  as  belong  to  the 
life  which  they  have  developed  within  them  and  made 
their  own;  mercifully  closing  their  minds  against  the 
light  of  heaven,  that  they  may  not  see  where  and  what 
they  really  are ;  providing  for  each  and  all  a  home  in 
the  society  of  congenial  spirits — a  home  which  their 
nature  impels  them  to  seek,  and  to  which  they  go  as  freely 
and  as  willingly  as  the  inebriate  goes  to  the  gin-shop  or 
the  leopard  to  his  lair. 

And  the  practical  tendency  of  this  doctrine,  like  that 
of  every  other  that  is  true,  is  most  salutary.  While  it 
proclaims  the  infinite  love  and  mercy  of  God,  and  his 
ceaseless  desire  and  effort  to  save  all,  it  at  the  same  time 
shows  us  that  salvation  is  a  work  which  not  even  almighty 
H*  L 


1 62  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

Love  itself  can  accomplish  without  our  willing  co-opera- 
tion;  that  the  heavenly  life  cannot  be  forced  upon  us  nor 
into  us  by  almighty  power,  but  can  only  be  wrought  out 
by  our  own  volition — or  built  up  through  struggle  and 
conflict  and  self-denial  and  obedience  to  the  laws  of  that 
life, — the  Lord  meanwhile  "  working  in  us  to  will  and  to 
do  of  his  good  pleasure"  ;  and  that  unless  we  begin  to 
live  the  life  of  heaven  here  on  earth — begin  to  deny 
self,  take  up  the  cross  and  follow  the  Master — we  shall 
have  no  desire  to  engage  in  this  work  in  the  realm  be- 
yond the  grave.  The  heaven  of  our  minds  will  then  be 
closed  in  tender  compassion  for  us ;  and  the  peace  and 
joy  and  unutterable  bliss  of  heaven  will,  therefore,  never 
be  ours. 

So  tremendous  are  the  moral  sanctions  with  which 
this  new  doctrine  is  invested  !  So  benign  and  quicken  ■ 
ing  is  it  in  its  practical  tendency  ! 


XI. 

THE  DEVIL  AND  SATAN. 

\T0  treatise  upon  the  subject  that  has  thus  far  en- 
gaged  our  attention,  would  be  satisfactory  to  an 
inquiring  mind,  which  did  not  embrace  an  explanation 
of  the  terms  Devil  and  Satan,  These  words  occur  very 
often  in  the  New  Testament,  and  in  the  closest  possible 
connection  with  the  term  Hell.  What  is  Swedenborg's 
explanation  of  them  ?  Or  what  is  the  doctrine  revealed 
through  him  concerning  the  Devil  and  Satan  ? 

We  know  what  doctrine  had  been  generally  taught  and 
accepted  by  Christians  up  to  the  time  he  wrote.  It  was 
that  of  a  personal  Devil — an  individual  of  unparalleled 
malignity,  the  implacable  enemy  of  both  God  and  man, 
and  endued  with  little  less  than  omnipotent  power.  And 
this  idea  agrees  with  the  literal  teaching  of  the  Bible. 
It  also  appears  from  the  literal  sense  of  some  passages 
(and  this,  too,  has  been  the  accepted  doctrine  among 
Christians)  as  if  this  almost  omnipotent  evil  spirit,  was 
once  an  inhabitant  of  the  highest  heaven — foremost 
among  the  heavenly  host  in  wisdom  and  all  angelic 
graces ; — one 

163 


164  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

" who,  in  the  happy  realms  of  light, 

Clothed  with  transcendent  brightness,  did  outshine 
Myriads  though  bright ;" — 

but  who,  on  account  of  his  impious  attempt  to  overthrow 
the  divine  government  and  establish  himself  on  the 
throne  of  the  universe,  was  cast  down  from  heaven,  and 
became  thereby  the  prince  of  the  bottomless  pit,  the 
commander  in  chief  of  all  the  hosts  of  hell.  (See  Is. 
xii.  14;  Jude  6th  v. ;  Rev.  ix.  11.) 

Such  was  the  generally  accepted  doctrine  of  the  Devil 
a  hundred  years  ago.  And  it  is  believed  by  many  at  the 
present  day.  A  high  authority  where  definitions  are  in 
question  (Noah  Webster),  defines  Satan  to  be  "  the  grand 
adversary  of  man ;  the  devil,  or  prince  of  darkness ;  the 
chief  of  the  fallen  angels;  the  arch-fiend.' '  And  in  an 
abridgement  of  his  great  work,  we  find  Devil  defined 
thus  : — "  In  the  Christian  theology — a  fallen  angel  ex- 
pelled from  heaven  for  rebellion  against  God ;  the  chief 
of  the  fallen  angels.' ' 

From  these  definitions  we  learn  that  the  notion  which 
Christians  have  generally  attached  to  these  words,  has 
been  precisely  that  expressed  by  Milton  in  his  great  epic, 
where  he  introduces  Satan  as  one 

" cast  out  from  heaven,  with  all  his  host 

Of  rebel  angels ;  by  whose  aid  aspiring 
To  set  himself  in  glory  above  his  peers, 
He  trusted  to  have  equaled  the  Most  High 
If  He  opposed ;  and  with  ambitious  aim 


THE  DEVIL    AND   SATAN.  1 65 

Against  the  throne  and  monarchy  of  God, 
Raised  impious  war  in  heaven,  and  battle  proud, 
With  vain  attempt.     Him  the  almighty  Power 
Hurled  headlong  flaming  from  the  ethereal  sky, 
With  hideous  ruin  and  combustion,  down 
To  bottomless  perdition ;  there  to  dwell 
In  adamantine  chains  and  penal  fire, 
Who  durst  defy  the  Omnipotent  to  arms." 

But  there  are  not  a  few  at  the  present  day,  both  within 
and  outside  of  all  the  churches — and  their  number  is 
steadily  increasing — who  do  not  believe  a  word  of  this 
old  and  once  popular  doctrine  of  the  Devil.  They 
reject  that  whole  story  about  the  war  in  heaven,  and  the 
overthrow  and  expulsion  of  the  rebel  hosts,  as  fabulous. 
And  if  any  one  is  curious  to  know  the  origin  of  this  no- 
tion about  the  "fallen  angels,"  let  him  read  attentively 
the  critical  remarks  of  Dr.  Moses  Stuart  on  the  Apochry- 
phal  book  of  Enoch,  from  which  it  is  evident  that  the 
apostle  Jude  quoted.  The  conclusion  of  this  learned 
writer  is  briefly  stated  thus:  "Probable  I  must  deem  it 
to  be,  that  Jude  has  quoted  the  book  of  Enoch ;  because 
he  seems,  in  what  he  says  of  the  angels  who  kept  not 
their  first  estate,  but  left  their  habitation  and  are  reserved 
in  chains  of  darkness,  to  allude  to  the  account  of  apos- 
tate angels  as  given  in  the  book  of  Enoch."  (Stuart  on 
the  Apocalypse,  Vol.  I.,  p.  51-73.) 

The  old  doctrine  on  this  subject,  then,  is  clearly  one 
that  belongs  to  a  superstitious  and  unenlightened  age. 


1 66  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

It  bears  about  it  the  air  of  fable.  Our  reason  and  the 
enlightened  sentiment  of  the  present  day  repudiate  it 
utterly. 

Let  us  turn,  now,  to  the  new  doctrine  revealed  through 
Swedenborg ;  and  see  if  that  be  as  unreasonable  or  im- 
probable as  the  old.  What,  according  to  this  new  rev- 
elation, is  the  Devil  and  Satan  of  Scripture? 

Consider  that  evil  spirits  are  not  all  in  the  same  kind 
or  degree  of  evil.  They  are  not  all  alike,  any  more  than 
men  on  earth  or  angels  in  heaven.  There  are  innumerable 
varieties  of  evil  in  hell,  as  there  are  of  good  in  heaven. 
And  those  who  are  in  similar  kinds  and  degrees  of  evil, 
prefer  to  be  together.  They  are  therefore  drawn  by  the 
law  of  spiritual  affinity  into  the  same  society.  Every 
devil  is  carried  to  that  particular  society  whose  general 
character  most  nearly  resembles  his  own.  There  he 
finds  himself  at  home.  He  is  drawn  to  it  by  an  irre- 
sistible attraction — for  in  the  other  world  each  one  goes 
where  his  ruling  love  leads  him.  Spirits  can  no  more 
resist  or  cut  themselves  loose  from  the  law  of  spiritual 
attraction,  than  our  earth  can  resist  or  cut  itself  loose 
from  the  law  of  material  attraction. 

By  virtue  of  this  law,  and  of  the  endless  variety  of 
goods  and  evils  in  the  other  world,  both  in  kind  and  in 
degree,  there  are  in  heaven  and  in  hell  a  countless  num- 
ber of  societies,  each  one  of  which  is  in  some  specific 
kind  and  degree  of  good  or  evil.  All  the  societies  in 
heaven,  viewed  collectively,  constitute  one  gigantic  Man 


THE  DEVIL  AND  SATAN.  1 67 

or  Angel ;  and  are  often  called  by  Swedenborg  Maximus 
Homo — the  Grand  Man.  The  meaning  of  this  is,  that 
the  connection,  interdependence,  and  mutual  relation 
of  the  innumerable  societies  composing  the  whole  angelic 
heaven,  and  the  uses  which  they  severally  perform,  cor- 
respond to  the  harmonious  relation  existing  between  the 
different  organs  of  the  human  body,  and  their  respective 
functions. 

And  since  the  mutual  relation  and  dependence  of  all 
the  angelic  societies  is  such  that  the  whole  heaven  appears 
before  the  Lord  as  one  symmetrical  and  colossal  Man  or 
Angel,  so  the  infernal  societies  are  so  related  and  united 
that  all  hell  appears  as  one  gigantic  and  deformed  Mon- 
ster or  Devil.  The  difference  in  their  appearance  cor- 
responds exactly  to  the  difference  in  their  character. 
And  this  is  as  the  difference  between  a  single  angel  and 
devil,  one  of  whom  is  a  form  of  all  that  is  pure  and 
good,  and  therefore  indescribably  beautiful ;  the  other  a 
form  of  all  that  is  evil  and  loathsome,  and  therefore 
hideous. 

This,  according  to  Swedenborg,  is  what  we  are  to  un- 
derstand by  the  Devil  and  Satan  so  often  mentioned  in 
Scripture.  Each  of  these  is  a  collective  term  when  used 
in  its  widest  sense,  and  denotes  all  the  infernal  societies 
viewed  as  a  single  individual.  There  is  an  organic  con- 
nection among  infernal  spirits.  One  life  pervades  them 
all,  and  that  is  the  life  of  self-love  and  the  lusts  therein 
originating, — just  as  one  kind  of  blood,  pure  or  impure, 


l6S  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

courses  through  all  parts  of  the  human  body  even  to  its 
remotest  extremities.  And  as  the  whole  body  conspires 
in  producing  the  slightest  motion  of  any  limb — a  foot, 
an  arm,  a  hand  or  a  finger — so  all  hell  conspires  in  the 
perpetration  of  every  wicked  deed  —  in  every  evil  pur- 
pose, word,  or  work. 

We  see,  then,  that,  according  to  the  New  doctrine,  no 
single  individual  as  chief  of  the  fallen  angels,  is  meant 
by  these  Scripture  terms,  but  all  evil  spirits  in  the  com- 
plex,— or  some  one  of  the  infernal  societies  with  whose 
every  act  and  purpose  the  whole  conspires.  Devil  is  the 
term  employed  when  hell  is  spoken  of  with  more  especial 
reference  to  the  evil  loves  that  reign  there ;  and  Satan, 
when  it  is  spoken  of  with  more  especial  reference  to  its 
false  persuasions. 

And  because  all  hell  is  in  a  state  of  opposition  to  what 
is  good  and  true,  and  perpetually  conspires  to  destroy 
man  spiritually,  by  the  sphere  of  evil  and  falsity  which 
continually  issues  from  it  as  a  poisonous  exhalation, 
therefore  we  read  that  the  Devil  "  was  a  murderer  from 
the  beginning,  and  abode  not  in  the  truth  because  there 
is  no  truth  in  him.  When  he  speaketh  a  lie,  he  speaketh 
of  his  own  [i.  e.,  according  to  his  own  nature];  for  he 
is  a  liar  and  the  father  of  it."  Nothing  but  falsity  is  in 
agreement  with  evil.  Therefore  nothing  but  lies  can 
come  forth  from  the  hearts  of  those  who  are  essentially 
evil — supremely  selfish — when  they  speak  from  their  own 
nature. 


THE  DEVIL   AND  SATAN.  1 69 

So  reasonable  is  the  view  here  presented,  and  so  much 
more  satisfactory  than  the  Old  doctrine,  that  we  are  not 
surprised  to  find  it  beginning  to  be  accepted  by  some  of 
the  acutest  minds  and  profoundest  thinkers  even  among 
those  commonly  reputed  orthodox.  To  cite  here,  by 
way  of  illustration,  a  single  passage  from  that  most  fas- 
cinating work,  Nature  and  the  Supernatural,  from  the 
pen  of  Dr.  Horace  Bushnell,  unquestionably  one  of  the 
ablest  theologians  in  America.  Speaking  of  the  doctrine 
of  the  Manichees  or  disciples  of  Zoroaster,  this  writer 
says: 

"  If  their  good  principle,  called  God  by  us,  is  taken 
as  a  being,  and  their  bad  principle  as  only  a  condition 
privative ;  one  as  a  positive  and  real  cause,  the  other  as  a 
bad  possibility  that  environs  God  from  eternity,  waiting 
to  become  a  fact  and  certain  to  become  a  fact  whenever 
the  opportunity  is  given,  it  is  even  so.  And  then  it  fol- 
lows that  the  moment  God  creates  a  realm  of  powers,  the 
bad  possibility  as  certainly  becomes  a  bad  actuality,  a 
Satan,  or  Devil,  in  esse ;  not  a  bad  omnipresence  over 
against  God,  and  his  equal — that  is  a  monstrous  and  hor- 
rible conception — but  an  outbreaking  evil  or  empire  of 
evil  in  created  spirits,  according  to  their  order.  For 
Satan,  or  the  Devil,  taken  in  the  singular,  is  not  the 
name  of  any  particular  person,  neither  is  it  a  personation 
merely  of  temptation,  or  impersonal  evil,  as  many  in- 
sist ;  for  there  is  really  no  such  thing  as  impersonal  evil 

in  the  sense  of  moral  evil ;  but  the  name  is  a  name  that 
15 


1 7°  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

generalizes  bad  persons  or  spirits,  with  their  bad  thoughts 
or  characters,  many  in  one.  That  there  is  any  single 
one  of  them  who,  by  distinction  or  pre-eminence,  is  called 
Satan,  or  Devil,  is  wholly  improbable.  The  name  is  one 
taken  up  by  the  imagination,  to  designate  or  embody,  in 
a  conception  the  mind  can  most  easily  wield,  the  all  or 
total  of  bad  minds  or  powers.' ' — pp.  134,  '5. 

I  do  not  know  whether  this  learned  writer  derived  the 
view  here  expressed  from  Swedenborg,  or  whether  he 
reached  it  by  a  kind  of  spiritual  intuition.  In  either 
case  the  testimony  of  such  a  mind  is  equally  valuable. 
The  doctrine,  we  see,  is  identically  the  same  as  that 
revealed  through  Swedenborg. 

Pursuing  our  inquiry, — we  find  that  the  word  Angel  is 
used  in  Scripture  in  a  manner  similar  to  the  word  Devil, 
as  explained  by  Swedenborg.  Sometimes  it  is  used  to 
denote  a  single  individual,  sometimes  a  single  angelic 
society,  and  sometimes  the  whole  angelic  heaven  which 
is  an  angel  in  the  largest  form.  Thus  the  seer  of  Pat- 
mos  speaks  of  the  angels  of  the  churches  of  Ephesus, 
Smyrna,  Thyatira,  etc.,  by  which  are  meant  the  angelic 
societies  connected  with  and  presiding  over  these  churches. 
We  read  also  in  Psalms:  "The  angel  of  the  Lord 
encampeth  round  about  them  that  fear  Him,  and  deliv- 
ereth  them."  Here  "the  angel  of  the  Lord"  means 
the  whole  angelic  heaven. 

But  heaven  is  the  same  in  each  and  all  of  its  parts,  as 
it  is  in  the  whole.     Therefore  the  word  angel,  which  is 


THE  DEVIL   AND  SATAN.  171 

sometimes  used  in  Scripture  to  denote  the  whole  angelic 
heaven,  or  some  society  thereof,  is  also  used  in  the  plural 
{angels)  to  denote  two  or  more  individuals ;  for  every 
angel  is  a  heaven  in  the  smallest  form. 

Similar  remarks  may  be  made  with  reference  to  the 
use  of  the  word  devil.  It  is  used  in  the  singular  as  a  col- 
lective term  to  denote  all  hell  in  the  complex;  and 
again  we  find  the  same  word  often  used  in  the  plural 
(devils),  denoting  individual  evil  spirits,  or  the  constit- 
uent parts  of  hell,  which  are  similar  in  character  to  the 
whole. 

We  use  the  term  man  in  precisely  the  same  way.  We 
sometimes  apply  it  to  a  single  individual,  and  sometimes 
to  the  race.  It  is  often  used  in  this  latter  sense  in  the 
Bible,  as  a  collective  term.  As  where  it  is  said  :  "  God 
made  man  in  his  own  image."  "  Man  shall  not  live  by 
bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  that  proceedeth  out  of 
the  mouth  of  God  shall  man  live."  Again  we  use  this 
word  in  the  plural  (men),  when  speaking  of  a  number  of 
individuals,  or  of  mankind  in  general. 

And  what  is  more  common  than  to  hear  a  country, 
a  kingdom,  or  state,  or  other  community  of  persons 
spoken  of  as  a  single  individual.  Every  one  speaks  of 
England,  France,  Germany,  the  United  States,  etc.,  or 
the  people  of  these  countries  viewed  collectively,  as  one 
person,  with  the  same  familiarity  and  the  same  confi- 
dence of  being  understood,  as  he  would  speak  of  Mr. 
Smith  or  Mr.  Jones,  his  next  door  neighbor. 


172  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

Now  if  Man  is  often  used  as  a  collective  term  to  denote 
the  entire  human  race,  and  Angel  in  like  manner  to  de- 
note the  whole  angelic  heaven,  why  should  not  Devil 
be  used  in  the  same  way  to  denote  all  evil  spirits  in  the 
complex?  or,  as  Dr.  Bushnell  expresses  it,  "the  total 
of  bad  minds"?  These  are  all  animated  by  one  and 
the  same  bad  spirit ;  they  all  breathe  hatred,  cruelty, 
revenge  and  murder ;  they  are  all  joined  in  an  alliance 
of  evil ;  they  all  conspire  to  work  deeds  of  darkness ; 
and  viewed  collectively,  what  are  they  but  one  inhuman 
Monster  or  Devil  ? 

And  this  view  has  the  clear  testimony  of  Scripture  as 
well  as  of  reason  in  its  support.  For  we  read  of  one 
"that  was  possessed  with  the  devil,"  who  was  "always, 
night  and  day,  in  the  mountains  and  in  the  tombs, 
crying  and  cutting  himself  with  stones."  This  poor, 
devil-possessed  creature  met  Jesus  as  He  came  out  of  the 
ship ;  and  as  soon  as  he  saw  Him  "he  ran  and  worshiped 
Him,  and  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  and  said,  What  have 
I  to  do  with  thee,  Jesus,  thou  Son  of  the  most  high 
God?"  And  Jesus,  commanding  the  unclean  spirit  to 
come  out  of  the  man,  "asked  him,  What  is  thy  name? 
And  he  answered,  saying,  My  name  is  Legion ;  for  we 
are  many." — Mark  v.  9.  And  immediately  after,  this 
same  unclean  spirit,  called  in  verses  15  and  16  "the 
devil,"  is  spoken  of  in  the  plural  as  "the  unclean  spirits." 
and  "all  the  devils." 

There  are  a  number  of  other  names  by  which  the  Devil 


THE  DEVIL   AND  SATAN.  1 73 

is  called  in  Scripture,  each  of  which  expresses  something 
of  the  essential  nature  of  hell ;  such  as,  Angel  of  the 
bottomless  pit,  Prince  of  this  world,  Prince  of  darkness, 
Destroyer,  Beelzebub,  Belial,  Adversary,  Accuser,  De- 
ceiver, Liar,  Murderer,  Tormentor,  Serpent,  Lucifer, 
Leviathan  and  Dragon.  Such  are  the  significant  names 
which  we  find  in  the  Bible  sometimes  applied  to  the  col- 
lective body  of  evil  spirits  in  the  other  world,  who, 
viewed  as  one  individual,  are  more  frequently  called  the 
Devil  and  Satan.  And  how  completely  do  such  names 
justify  the  following  language  of  Swedenborg : 

"As  heaven,  from  the  Lord,  by  mutual  love,  consti- 
tutes as  it  were  one  Man  or  one  soul,  and  thus  regards 
one  end  which  is  the  preservation  and  salvation  of  all  to 
eternity ;  so  on  the  other  hand  hell,  from  proprium,  by 
self-love  and  the  love  of  the  world,  that  is,  by  hatred, 
constitutes  one  Devil  or  one  mind,  and  thus  regards  one 
end,  which  is  the  destruction  and  damnation  of  all  to 
eternity.  That  such  is  the  tendency  of  each  has  been 
granted  me  to  perceive  many  thousands  of  times. M 
{Arcana  Ccelestia  694.) 

We  thus  see  that  the  New  doctrine  *on  this,  as  on  other 
subjects,  is  quite  different  from  the  Old.  The  Devil, 
according  to  Swedenborg's  disclosures,  is  not  the  per- 
sonal one  described  by  Milton,  and  hitherto  believed  in 
by  Christians  generally.  Nor  is  he  a  fabulous  or  imag- 
inary being,  but  one  whose  existence  and  reality  the 
philosphic  inquirer  readily  admits.  Nay,  he  is  one 
15* 


1 74  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

whose  existence  we  are  compelled  to  admit,  the  moment 
we  admit  that  each  one  takes  his  own  character  with  him 
into  the  other  world,  and  that  those  of  similar  character 
are  there  drawn  together,  and  held  together  and  act  to- 
gether as  one. 

And  something — nay,  much,  I  think — is  gained,  when 
the  Devil,  whom  intelligent  people  were  fast  coming  to 
look  upon  as  a  fabulous  sort  of  being,  is  so  presented 
that  all  doubt  about  his  existence  and  reality  as  well  as 
his  nature,  is  banished.  It  places  the  Scripture  in  a  dif- 
ferent light,  and  inspires  fresh  confidence  in  its  divinity. 

And  seeing  what  the  essential  nature  of  the  Devil  is, 
we  may  see  what  it  is  to  be  influenced  and  led  by  him — 
and  what  to  be  led  by  the  Lord.  When  we  earnestly  strive 
to  know  and  do  the  right — when  we  look  to  the  Lord 
and  seek  to  regulate  our  lives  according  to  his  revealed 
will,  then  we  suffer  ourselves  to  be  led  and  governed  by 
Him. 

But  when  we  seek  only  to  do  our  own  wills — when  we 
heed  the  promptings  of  self-love  more  than  the  still  small 
voice  of  truth  and  duty,  then  we  breathe  the  atmosphere 
of  hell ;  our  spirits  act  in  conjunction  with  the  infernals ; 
we  are  led  and  governed  by  the  Devil. 

And  when  we  consider  what  legions  there  are  who  con- 
stitute the  Devil,  and  who  are  banded  together  in  a  con- 
spiracy against  all  that  is  good  and  true  and  holy  in 
human  hearts  and  human  society,  how  clear  and  imper- 
ative becomes  the  need  of  an  almighty  Arm  to  save  us  ! 


THE  DEVIL   AND  SATAN.  1 75 

and  how  earnestly  should  we  seek  the  Divine  protecting 
sphere  !  How  anxious  should  we  be  to  know  the  truth, 
and  how  careful  to  govern  our  lives  according  to  its 
requirements — ever  acknowledging  the  Lord's  own  im- 
mediate presence  and  power  in  the  truths  we  learn  and 
do  !  This  is  the  only  way  we  can  secure  for  ourselves  the 
protection  of  that  Arm  which  alone  can  shield  us  against 
the  power  of  hell. 

How  imminent  is  our  spiritual  danger,  how  watchful 
we  ought  to  be  over  our  hearts  and  lives,  how  much  we 
need  the  Divine  protection,  and  how  that  protection  is 
best  ensured,  will  appear  from  the  following  extract  from 
Swedenborg's  Heaven  and  Hell : 

"  Every  spirit  is  his  own  good  or  his  own  evil,  because 
he  is  his  own  love.  Therefore,  as  an  angelic  spirit 
thinks,  wills,  speaks,  and  acts  from  his  own  good,  so 
does  an  infernal  spirit  from  his  own  evil ;  and  to  think, 
will,  speak,  and  act,  from  evil  itself,  is  to  do  so  from  all 
the  things  which  are  included  in  the  evil.  It  was  other- 
wise when  he  lived  in  the  body.  The  evil  of  the  man's 
spirit  was  then  restrained  by  the  bonds,  in  which  every 
one  is  held  by  the  law,  by  his  love  of  gain  and  honor, 
and  through  fear  of  losing  them  ;  on  which  account  the 
evil  of  his  spirit  could  not  then  break  out,  and  manifest 
itself  in  its  own  intrinsic  nature.  Besides,  the  evil  of 
the  man's  spirit  then  lay  wrapped  up  and  veiled  in  exter- 
nal probity,  sincerity,  justice,  and  the  affection  of  truth 
and  good,  of  which  such  a  man  has  made  an  oral  profes- 


17^  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

sion,  and  has  assumed  an  appearance  for  the  sake  of  the 
world.  Under  these  outward  semblances,  the  evil  lay  so 
covered  up  and  concealed,  that  he  was  scarcely  aware 
himself  that  his  spirit  contained  so  great  wickedness  and 
subtlety,  or  that  in  himself  he  was  such  a  devil  as  he 
becomes  after  death,  when  his  spirit  comes  into  itself, 
and  into  its  own  nature.  Such  wickedness  then  manifests 
itself  as  exceeds  all  belief.  There  are  thousands  of  evils 
which  burst  forth  from  evil  itself,  among  which,  also, 
are  such  as  cannot  be  expressed  in  the  words  of  any  lan- 
guage. I  have  been  permitted  to  learn  and  comprehend 
their  nature  by  much  experience  ;  for  it  has  been  granted 
me  by  the  Lord  to  be  in  the  spiritual  world  as  to  my 
spirit,  and  at  the  same  time  in  the  natural  world  as  to 
my  body.  This  I  can  testify,  that  their  wickedness  is  so 
great,  that  it  is  hardly  possible  to  describe  a  thousandth 
part  of  it ;  and  furthermore,  that  unless  the  Lord  pro- 
tected man,  it  would  be  impossible  for  him  ever  to  be 
rescued  from  hell ;  for  there  are  with  every  man  both 
spirits  from  hell  and  angels  from  heaven ;  and  the  Lord 
cannot  protect  a  man,  unless  he  acknowledge  the  Divine, 
and  live  the  life  of  faith  and  charity ;  for  otherwise,  he 
averts  himself  from  the  Lord,  and  turns  toward  infernal 
spirits,  and  thus  becomes  imbued  as  to  his  spirit  with 
similar  wickedness." — 577. 


XII. 

PRACTICAL   BEARINGS   OF  THE    QUESTION, 

BESIDES  this  outer  world  of  matter,  there  is  another 
realm  of  being; — a  world  of  spirits,  both  good  and 
evil ; — a  heaven  of  angels  and  a  hell  of  devils.  Nor  is 
this  realm  remote  from  the  world  in  which  we  are  now 
living  and  acting,  but  intimately  present  with  it,  inter- 
penetrating every  part  of  it,  as  the  soul  of  man  pervades 
and  animates  every  part  of  his  body. 

In  the  midst  of  this  viewless  host  our  own  souls  live 
and  breathe  and  act.  With  one  or  another  class  of 
spirits  we  internally  hold  close  companionship ;  and  are 
powerfully  influenced  by  them  for  good  or  for  evil. 
Heaven  and  hell  are  not  far  away.  Both  are  present  and 
potential  realities — none  the  less  so  because  their  deni- 
zens are  invisible  to  the  natural  eye.  And  the  moment 
this  fact  is  recognized,  the  important  practical  bearings 
of  the  subject  discussed  in  these  pages,  becomes  apparent. 
For  if  hell  be  a  present  reality,  or  if  it  can  come  near  to 
men  and  exert  upon  them  a  potent  influence,  it  is  import- 
ant that  we  understand  its  nature. 

And  all  who  accept  the  Sacred  Scripture  as  a  revelation 
from   God,  must   recognize   this   fact.     For   on  almost 

M  177 


178  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL, 

every  page  of  the  Bible,  the  existence  of  a  realm  above 
nature — of  a  world  peopled  by  spirits,  good  and  evil — is 
clearly  implied  if  not  distinctly  asserted.  Angels  and 
devils  are  spoken  of  as  often,  and  with  as  much  familiar- 
ity, as  are  any  other  objects  whose  reality  no  one  ever 
dreamed  of  questioning.  Their  existence  is  everywhere 
assumed.  There  is  never  an  attempt  to  prove  it,  any 
more  than  there  is  to  prove  the  existence  of  the  sun, 
moon  or  stars. 

Angels  are  spoken  of  as  often  seen  by  persons  in  the  ■ 
flesh ;  as  conversing  with  and  sustaining  an  intimate  re- 
lation to  them ;  as  feeling  a  lively  interest  in  humanity, 
and  exerting  an  influence  upon  the  condition  of  mortals. 
They  were  seen,  for  example,  by  Jacob,  Gideon,  Manoah, 
Zacharias,  the  shepherds  of  Bethlehem,  and  the  women 
"who  were  early  at  the  sepulchre."  Myriads  of  them 
were  beheld,  and  their  voices  heard,  by  John  when  he 
was  in  the  spirit.  And  as  evidence  of  their  interest  in 
and  their  sympathy  with  people  here  on  earth,  we  are 
told  in  the  gospel  of  Luke  that  "there  is  joy  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  angels  of  God  over  one  sinner  that  re- 
penteth." 

Equally  explicit,  too,  is  the  Scripture  in  its  teaching 
respecting  evil  spirits  or  devils,  and  their  malign  influ- 
ence upon  the  inhabitants  of  this  world.  When  our 
Saviour  was  on  earth,  multitudes  were  possessed  by  them  ; 
and  we  are  told  that  "He  cast  out  the  devils  with  his 
word."    He  also  gave  his  disciples  "  power  over  unclean 


PRACTICAL   BEARINGS   OF  IT.  1 79 

spirits  to  cast  them  out."  And  when  He  sent  them  forth 
to  preach  the  gospel  of  the  Kingdom,  He  gave  them  a 
commission  to  "  heal  the  sick,  cleanse  the  lepers,  raise 
the  dead,  and  cast  out  devils."  When  the  evil  spirits 
saw  Him,  they  (or  the  persons  possessed  by  them)  cried 
out  for  fear,  fell  down  before  Him,  or  quickly  fled  away 
as  from  one  whose  sphere  was  insufferably  painful.  And 
"with  authority,"  it  is  said,  "He  commandeth  the  un- 
clean spirits,  and  they  obey  Him."  And  on  one  occa- 
sion when  He  was  met  by  a  poor  demoniac  who  had  his 
dwelling  among  the  tombs,  "He  said  unto  him,  Come 
out  of  the  man,  thou  unclean  spirit."  And  when  he  was 
asked  "What  is  thy  name?"  he  answered  "My  name  is 
Legion  ;  for  we  are  many." 

Then  look  at  the  character  of  the  Devil  as  portrayed 
in  the  Bible ; — and  this  term,  as  shown  in  the  previous 
chapter,  is  applied  to  the  congregated  hosts  of  hell,  or 
all  evil  spirits  viewed  collectively.  His  character  is 
clearly  indicated  by  the  several  names  applied  to  him. 
For  he  is  called  a  liar,  a  destroyer,  the  accurser  of  the 
brethren,  the  adversary,  the  deceiver,  a  murderer,  the 
old  serpent,  the  tempter,  the  wicked  one,  the  spirit  that 
worketh  in  the  children  of  disobedience.  He  is  repre- 
sented, moreover,  as  the  enemy  of  God  and  the  human 
race ;  as  opposed  to  the  establishment  of  the  Redeemer's 
kingdom,  or  to  the  reign  of  justice,  liberty  and  love  in 
human  hearts ;  as  earnestly  bent  on  man's  destruction ; 
as  the  inspirer  of  all  wicked  thoughts,  and  malign  pur- 


iSj  NEW  VIEW  OF  NELL. 

poses ;  as  putting  it  into  the  heart  of  Judas  Iscariot  to 
betray  the  blessed  Saviour;  as  corrupting  and  misleading 
men  by  craft  and  subtlety;  as  "going  about  like  a  roar- 
ing lion,  seeking  whom  he  may  devour.' p 

The  Scripture  testimony  on  this  subject  is  abundant 
and  conclusive.  We  see  not  how  it  could  be  more  ex- 
plicit. If  the  existence  of  an  innumerable  company  of 
angels  and  devils,  their  close  proximity  to  man,  and  their 
intense  desire  and  earnest  effort,  the  one  class  to  do  him 
good  and  the  other  to  do  him  harm,  be  not  plainly  taught 
in  the  Bible,  then  it  would  be  difficult,  I  think,  to  say 
what  is  plainly  taught  there. 

And  yet  the  explicit  teaching  of  Scripture  on  this  mo- 
mentous theme,  has  come  to  be  quite  overlooked  or 
ignored  by  many  Christians ;  and  so  explained  by  others 
as  to  cast  doubt  on  the  very  existence  of  spirits,  good  or 
evil.  These  facts  go  to  show  how  important  it  was  that 
some  one  should  be  intromitted  into  the  spiritual  world 
in  the  manner  that  Swedenborg  was  (or,  if  you  please, 
claimed  to  be),  that  he  might  thereby  be  enabled  to  make 
a  truthful  revelation  concerning  that  world. 

That  the  practical  bearings  of  the  question  discussed 
in  these  pages,  may  be  more  distinctly  seen,  I  will  give 
a  brief  outline  of  the  spiritual  world,  even  at  the  risk  of 
treading  upon  some  ground  that  has  already  been  trav- 
eled over. 

I  observe,  then,  that  the  spiritual  world  is  one  of  sub- 
stantial  realities — more  real,   indeed,  than  the  one   in 


PRACTICAL   BEARINGS   OF  IT.  l8l 

which  we  are  now  living.  It  is  not  remote  from  this 
world  as  to  space,  but  is  intimately  present  with  it  as  the 
soul  is  with  the  body.  It  is  peopled  by  a  countless 
multitude  of  beings,  all  of  whom  are  in  the  human  form 
and  were  once  inhabitants  of  the  natural  world.  These 
are  organized  in  general  into  two  grand  divisions, — a 
heaven  of  angels  and  a  hell  of  devils.  The  angels  are 
distributed  into  innumerable  societies,  corresponding,  in 
their  mutual  relations  and  in  the  functions  they  respect- 
ively perform,  to  the  different  members  and  organs  of 
the  human  body;  so  that  together  they  constitute  one 
Grand  Man  or  Angel.  And  to  the  Lord  they  actually 
appear  as  one,  and  constitute  his  heavenly  kingdom. 
These  are  spoken  of  in  the  Bible  as  "the  angel  of  the 
Lord"  and  "the  host  of  heaven." 

And  the  angels  are  all  good  and  wise,  although  there 
is  a  wide  diversity  of  character  among  them.  Some  are 
in  a  high  and  others  in  a  comparatively  low  degree  of 
wisdom ;  some  in  one  kind  of  good,  others  in  another. 
But  love  to  the  Lord  and  the  neighbor  is  the  chief  in- 
spiration— yea,  the  very  life-blood  of  all  their  hearts. 
They  are  all,  to  some  extent,  images  and  likenesses  of 
the  Lord.  They  have  been  with  Him  and  learned  of 
Him ; — learned  to  be  meek  and  lowly  in  heart,  forgetful 
of  themselves  and  thoughtful  only  of  the  good  of 
others; — learned  to  do  justly,  to  love  mercy,  and  to 
walk  humbly  with  their  God.  These  constitute  that 
bright  angelic  throng,  of  whom  it  is  said  that  they 
16 


1S2  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

"came  out  of  great  tribulation,  and  have  washed  their 
robes  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb. ' p 
They  are  all  of  them  children  of  the  Heavenly  Father, 
having  their  hearts  stamped  indelibly  with  the  impress 
of  his  spirit — which  is  what  is  meant  by  their  having 
"  his  name  written  in  their  foreheads.' '  Their  love  is  like 
God's,  pure  and  unselfish.  They  love  each  other  even 
better  than  themselves,  and  find  their  chief  delight  in 
doing  good  and  communicating  happiness  to  others. 
Having  in  their  hearts  the  very  spirit  of  the  Lord,  they 
love  only  what  He  loves,  and  delight  to  do  only  those 
things  that  He  delights  to  have  them  do.  Their  rul- 
ing desire  and  purpose  are  the  same  as  his ;  their  ends 
and  aims  the  same.  For  they  desire  above  all  else  to 
impart  unto  others  the  delights  of  heavenly  life.  They 
desire  to  dissipate  the  spiritual  darkness,  to  heal  the 
spiritual  sickness,  to  restore  the  spiritual  health  and  renew 
the  spiritual  strength  of  the  world.  Swedenborg's  writ- 
ings are  full  of  the  most  beautiful  and  inspiring  pictures- 
of  angelic  life,  from  which  people  here  on  earth  may 
learn  lessons  of  the  highest  practical  wisdom.  Thus  he 
says: 

"The  angelic  life  consists  in  the  performance  of  uses, 
or  in  the  goods  of  charity.  For  to  the  angels  nothing 
is  more  delightful  than  to  instruct  spirits  coming  from 
the  world; — to  serve  mankind  by  inspiring  them  with 
what  is  good,  and  by  restraining  the  evil  spirits  attend- 
ant on  them  from  passing  their  proper  bounds;- -to  raise 


PRACTICAL   BEARINGS   OF  IT.  I  S3 

up  the  dead  to  eternal  life,  and  afterwards,  if  their  souls 
be  of  such  a  character  as  to  render  it  possible,  to  intro- 
duce them  into  heaven.  In  the  performance  of  these 
offices  they  experience  an  unspeakable  delight.  Thus 
they  are  images  of  the  Lord,  for  they  love  their  neighbor 
more  than  themselves;  and  where  this  feeling  exists, 
there  is  heaven.  Angelic  happiness,  therefore,  is  in  use, 
from  use,  and  according  to  use ;  or  in  other  words,  it  is 
according  to  the  goods  of  love  and  charity.  .  .   . 

"  Some  of  the  best  educated  [who  were  met  with  in  the 
other  world],  declared  heavenly  joy  to  consist  in  a  life 
separated  from  the  good  offices  of  charity  and  in  merely 
praising  and  worshiping  the  Lord, — calling  this  an  active 
life.  They  were  told,  however,  that  praising  and  wor- 
shiping the  Lord,  is  not  such  an  active  life,  but  the 
effect  of  such  life ;  for  the  Lord  has  no  need  of  men's 
praises,  but  desires  that  they  perform  the  good  works  of 
charity.  According  as  they  do  these,  they  receive  hap- 
piness from  the  Lord.  Yet  these  most  learned  spirits 
could  have  no  idea  of  delight,  but  of  servitude,  in  these 
good  works  of  charity ;  but  the  angels  testified  that  such 
good  offices  are  compatible  with  the  most  perfect  free- 
dom, and  attended  with  inexpressible  felicity.' ' — Arcana 
Ccelestia  454,  456. 

Again  he  says : 

"  Charity  is  nothing  unless  it  manifests  itself  in  works 
of  charity.  It  exists  only  in  exercise,  or  in  the  perform- 
ance of  uses.     He  who  loves  his  neighbor  as  himself, 


184  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

never  perceives  the  delight  of  charity  except  in  its  ex- 
ercise, or  in  use ;  the  life  of  charity,  therefore,  is  a  life 
of  uses.  Such  is  the  life  of  the  whole  heaven ;  for  the 
Lord's  kingdom  is  a  kingdom  of  uses,  because  a  king- 
dom of  mutual  love.  Therefore  every  pleasure  derived 
from  charity,  has  its  delight  from  use ;  and  the  more 
exalted  the  use,  so  much  the  greater  its  delight.  Hence 
the  angels  have  happiness  from  the  Lord  according  to 
the  nature  and  quality  of  the  uses  they  perform." — 
Ibid.  997. 

Such  is  the  nature  of  angelic  life — the  life  which  we 
are  all  made  capable  of  attaining,  and  which  the  Lord  is 
forever  seeking  to  develop  or  build  up  within  us.  Such 
is  the  character  of  that  heavenly  kingdom  whereof  the 
Bible  so  often  speaks — a  kingdom  of  righteousness,  joy 
and  peace — a  kingdom  of  pure  and  loving  hearts — the 
very  kingdom  for  which  we  pray  when  we  breathe  that 
inspired  petition,  "Thy  kingdom  come,  thy  will  be 
done  on  earth  as  it  is  done  in  heaven." 

And  people  are  continually  passing  into  that  kingdom 
— passing  from  earth  to  heaven.  What  class  of  people  ? 
The  Bible  tells  us.  All  those  righteous  ones  who  walked, 
while  here  below,  in  the  law  of  the  Lord ; — those  lowly 
ones  who,  through  repentance  and  regeneration,  have 
become  as  little  children ; — the  meek,  the  merciful,  the 
poor  in  spirit,  the  pure  in  heart,  those  who  have  prac- 
ticed self-denial,  and  earnestly  sought  to  do  the  will  of 
the  Father  which  is  in  the  heavens. 


PRACTICAL   BEARINGS   OF  IT.  185 

We  thus  see  what  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is ;  and  that 
all  who  enter  that  kingdom  after  death,  must  have  heaven 
within  themselves.  That  is,  they  must  carry  the  loves 
and  purposes  that  rule  in  heaven,  and  be  able  to  find  de- 
light in  such  works  as  are  delightful  to  the  angels. 

But  there  is  another  kingdom  in  the  spiritual  realm  of 
which  the  Bible  tells  us — a  hell  of  devils.  These,  too, 
are  arranged,  in  like  manner  as  the  angels,  into  many 
different  societies  according  to  the  kinds  and  degrees  of 
evil  in  which  they  are.  Nor  is  there  anything  arbitrary 
or  compulsory  in  this  arrangement.  They  come  into  it 
in  perfect  freedom.  Each  one  goes  into  the  society  for 
which  he  has  an  affinity — into  the  one  whose  general 
character  is  nearest  like  his  own.  And  these  societies  of 
evil  spirits,  like  those  in  heaven,  are  all  so  united,  that 
together  they  constitute  one  huge  monster,  called  in 
Scripture  "the  Devil." 

The  character  of  these  evil  spirits  is  quite  the  opposite 
of  that  of  the  angels.  They  have  no  love  of  the  Lord 
or  the  neighbor;  and  therefore  know  nothing  of  the 
heavenly  delight  resulting  from  the  exercise  of  this  love. 
The  love  of  self  is  the  supreme  and  ruling  love  of  them 
all ;  and  this  is  real  hatred  toward  those  who  refuse  to 
minister  to  its  gratification. 

And  as  self-love  is  the  source  of  all  other  evil  loves 
when  it  reigns  supreme,  therefore  the  devils  are  thor- 
oughly immersed  in  evil.  They  are  full  of  hatred, 
malice,  craft  and  subtlety ; — full  of  falsehood,  tyranny, 
16* 


1 86  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

cunning  and  cruelty.  Their  life  is  one  of  unmitigated 
selfishness.  It  is  their  delight  to  do  all  manner  of  mis- 
chief;— to  foment  hatreds,  strifes  and  divisions ; — to  stir 
up  envies,  jealousies  and  revenges ; — to  intensify  all  the 
worst  passions  of  the  human  heart ; — to  blind,  and  mis- 
lead, and  if  possible  make  slaves  of,  all  who  come  within 
the  sphere  of  their  influence. 

Such,  briefly,  is  the  character  of  that  legion  of  infer- 
nals  in  the  spiritual  world,  who,  taken  collectively,  are 
called  the  Devil.  What  a  contrast  to  the  character 
of  those  shining  ones  in  the  realms  above ! 

Consider,  now,  that  as  to  our  spirits  we  are  always 
living  in  the  spiritual  world,  even  while  clothed  with 
material  flesh  and  blood ;  and  are  actually  associated 
with  one  or  the  other  class  of  spirits  above  described. 
We  may  flee  the  society  of  persons  in  the  flesh ;  but  we 
can  never  be  alone.  We  can  never  rid  ourselves  of  the 
society  of  spirits.  Wherever  we  are,  an  invisible  com- 
pany attends  us — in  solitude  no  less  than  in  society.  We 
do  not  see  them,  nor  sensibly  perceive  their  influence. 
Yet  their  presence  is  none  the  less  real  on  that  account, 
nor  their  influence  less  positive.  We  do  not  hear  their 
.  voices — certainly  not  with  our  outward  ears ;  yet  they 
converse  with  us  during  all  our  waking  hours.  Through 
the  intricate  and  mysterious  galleries  of  the  soul  they 
whisper  to  us  a  blessed  gospel  of  peace  and  good  will — 
thoughts  of  kindness,  usefulness,  justice,  mercy,  forbear- 


PRACTICAL   BEARINGS   OF  IT.  1S7 

ance,  benevolence,  and  willing  self-sacrifice  for  the  good 
of  others ;  or  they  suggest  ways  and  means  whereby  our 
pride,  vanity,  ambition,  lust  of  dominion,  love  of  ease 
or  pleasure,  or  selfish  greed  of  gain,  may  most  surely  be 
gratified. 

Yes :  one  or  the  other  of  these  two  classes  of  spirits, — 
according  as  we  are  more  willing  to  listen  to  the  soft 
pleadings  of  the  angels,  or  to  be  beguiled  by  the  glozing 
flattery  of  devils, — one  or  the  other  of  these  classes  are 
our  intimate  associates,  our  bosom  companions.  Of  one 
or  the  other  we  take  counsel  day  by  day,  however  uncon- 
scious we  may  be  of  the  fact.  To  one  or  the  other  we 
listen  from  hour  to  hour.  With  one  or  the  other  we 
think  and  feel  and  act  in  the  ordinary  intercourse  of  our 
every-day  life.  There  is  no  escape  from  this.  The  laws 
of  our  spiritual  being,  and  the  arrangements  and  consti- 
tution of  the  moral  universe,  render  it  a  necessity.  Our 
spirits  breathe,  and  must  breathe,  the  atmosphere  of 
heaven  or  of  hell.  They  may — oftentimes  they  do 
— breathe  that  of  each  by  turns. 

But  the  Lord  vouchsafes  to  every  one  the  liberty  of 
choice.  We  are  as  free  to  choose  our  invisible  as  we  are 
our  visible  associates.  Nay,  we  do  choose  them,  whether 
we  think  of  it  or  not.  We  have  actually  chosen  them, 
though  it  may  not  be  for  eternity ;  for  we  have  the  power 
to  change  our  invisible  as  well  as  our  visible  companions. 
Indeed,  the  whole  work  of  regeneration — every  inward 
change  we  experience — involves  a  change  in  our  spiritual 


1 88  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

associates,  or  the  passing  out  of  one  spiritual  society  and 
the  entering  into  another. 

And  now  comes  the  momentous  question :  Is  there 
any  way  of  ascertaining  the  character  of  our  invisible 
associates?  Is  there  any  test  whereby  we  may  know 
with  certainty  whether  our  spirits  consort  with  angels  or 
devils  ? — whether  we  inhale  from  day  to  day  the  balmy 
air  of  heaven,  or  the  noxious  and  soul-disordering  exha- 
lations of  hell  ? 

Most  undoubtedly.  There  is  a  universal  law  that  gov- 
erns all  associations  in  the  spiritual  world — those  in  hell 
as  well  as  those  in  heaven.  It  is  the  law  of  spiritual 
affinity  which  has  been  repeatedly  spoken  of  in  the  fore- 
going pages.  This  law  forever  impels  spirits  to  seek  the 
companionship  of  those  most  like  themselves.  Under 
its  operation,  therefore,  kindred  spirits  are  drawn  to- 
gether and  held  together  in  the  same  society.  Those  in 
a  similar  kind  and  degree  of  good,  or  in  a  similar  kind 
and  degree  of  evil,  have  an  affinity  for  each  other. 
They  love  to  be  together.  Their  sphere  is  mutually 
agreeable.  Therefore  they  gravitate  toward  each  other 
by  force  of  mutual  attraction. 

And  it  is  this  same  law  which  determines  the  character 
of  our  invisible  companions.  Through  its  operation, 
spirits  are  attracted  to  us  who  are  similar  in  character  to 
ourselves.  The  prevailing  tenor  of  our  thoughts  and 
affections — the  nature  of  the  love  that  rules  in  our  hearts 
— the  kind  of  motives  from  which  we  generally  act — 


PRACTICAL   BEARINGS   OF  IT.  1S9 

the  principles  which  govern  us  in  our  ordinary  inter- 
course with  men — these  are  the  indices  which  reveal  the 
character  of  our  spiritual  associates.  If  our  prevailing 
desire  and  effort  be  to  know  and  do  the  will  of  the  Lord, 
then  angels  are  our  companions  j  our  spirits  consort  with 
the  white-robed  throng ;  we  breathe  the  atmosphere  of 
heaven. 

But  if  our  ends  be  mean  and  selfish  ;  if  we  are  heed- 
less of  the  Divine  commands,  or  deaf  to  the  still  small 
voice  of  duty ;  if  our  prevailing  purpose  be  to  do  our  own 
will-  rather  than  the  will  of  God ;  then,  our  spiritual  asso- 
ciates belong  to  the  realms  below ;  we  are  in  fellowship 
with  devils ;  we  breathe  the  polluting  air  of  hell. 

We  have  but  to  look,  therefore,  at  our  governing  prin- 
ciples of  action — at  our  dominant  feelings,  dispositions 
and  motives — at  our  chief  end  and  aim  in  life,  in  order 
to  learn  the  character  of  our  invisible  associates.  Accord- 
ingly Swedenborg  says : — 

"All  spirits  are  distinguished  in  the  other  life  by  this: 
They  who  intend  evil  to  others,  are  infernal  or  diabolical 
spirits;  but  they  who  intend  good  to  others,  are  good 
and  angelic  spirits.  A  man  may  know  which  class  he  is 
among,  whether  angelic  or  infernal  spirits.  If  he  intends 
evil  to  his  neighbor,  thinking  nothing  but  evil  concern- 
ing him,  and  actually  doing  him  evil  whenever  it  is  in 
his  power,  and  finding  delight  in  doing  it,  then  he  is 
among  the  infernals,  and  also  becomes  an  infernal  him- 
self in  the  other  life.     But  if  he  intends  good  to  his 


190  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

neighbor,  and  thinks  nothing  but  good  respecting  him, 
and  actually  does  him  good  when  it  is  in  his  power,  then 
he  is  among  angelic  spirits,  and  also  becomes  an  angel 
himself  in  the  other  life. 

"  This  is  the  criterion.  Let  every  one  examine  himself 
by  it.  It  matters  not  that  a  person  does  not  do  evil 
when  he  either  cannot  or  dare  not,  nor  that  he  does 
good  from  some  selfish  consideration;  such  abstinence 
from  the  one  and  performance  of  the  other,  have  their 
origin  only  in  the  man's  externals;  and  these  are  re- 
moved in  the  other  life,  where  he  is  such  as  his  thoughts 
and  intentions  make  him." — Arcana  Ccelestla  n.  1680. 

Again  he  says : 

"A  man's  end  is  his  very  life;  for  that  which  belongs 
to  his  life,  or  what  is  the  same  thing,  to  his  love,  he  re- 
gards as  an  end.  When  the  good  of  the  neighbor,  the 
general  good,  the  good  of  the  church  and  of  the  Lord's 
kingdom  is  the  end  regarded,  then  the  man  as  to  his 
soul  is  in  the  Lord's  kingdom ;  for  His  kingdom  is  none 
other  than  a  kingdom  of  ends  and  uses  having  respect  to 
the  good  of  the  human  race.  The  angels  themselves 
attendant  on  man,  are  in  nothing  else  [or  have  regard  to 
nothing  else]  but  his  ends.  As  far  as  a  man's  end  is  the 
same  as  that  aimed  at  by  the  Lord's  kingdom,  so  far  the 
angels  are  delighted  with  him  and  unite  themselves  to 
him  as  to  a  brother ;  but  in  proportion  as  he  is  actuated 
by  a  selfish  end,  the  angels  recede,  and  evil  spirits  from 


PRACTICAL   BEARINGS   OF  IT.  191 

hell  draw  near ;  for  no  other  than  a  selfish  end  rules  in 
hell. 

"  From  these  considerations  it  is  evident  how  important 
it  is  for  a  man  to  examine  and  know  the  origin  of  his 
affections ;  and  this  can  only  be  known  from  the  end  at 
which  he  aims." — Ibid.  3796. 

In  view  of  what  has  now  been  said,  the  practical 
bearings  of  this  question  are  sufficiently  obvious.  When 
these  great  truths  are  recognized,  that  man  is  essen- 
tially a  spiritual  being;  that,  within  our  outer  material 
vesture,  is  a  spiritual  and  substantial  body  which  con- 
tinues to  live  after  the  material  body  perishes ;  that,  as 
to  our  spirits  we  are  now  and  always  living  in  the  spiritual 
world,  in  close  companionship  with  an  invisible  com- 
pany whose  character  is  determined  by  our  own  gov- 
erning motives  and  cherished  purposes;  that  the  cha- 
racter we  form  while  here  on  earth  will  go  with  us  into 
the  other  world,  and  continue  essentially  the  same  for- 
ever; that  the  spiritual  associates  we  now  choose  and 
bind  to  us  by  an  unfailing  law,  are  the  very  ones  whose 
companionship  we  shall  prefer  and  seek  in -the  life  beyond 
the  grave ;  that  we  are  already  in  hell,  however  uncon- 
scious we  may  be  of  the  fact,  if  our  ends  and  aims  be 
similar  to  those  that  rule  in  the  realms  below ;  and  that 
our  only  hope  of  deliverance  is  in  looking  to  the  Lord 
in  humble  acknowledgment  of  our  dependence  on  Him, 
and  religiously  obeying  the  laws  of  life  that  He  has  re- 
vealed;— when  these  truths,  which  are  all  involved  in 


I92  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

the  New  view  of  hell,  are  seen  and  acknowledged,  the 
practical  value  of  this  view  will  then  be  perceived  and 
confessed. 

For  all  who  desire  to  rid  themselves  of  the  society 
of  evil  spirits,  and  to  come  internally  into  fellowship 
with  the  angels,  will  see  the  absolute  necessity,  not  only 
of  a  good  outward  or  moral  life,  but  of  cleansing  "  the 
inside  of  the  cup  and  of  the  platter* ' — of  acting  from 
right  motives — of  making  the  love  of  use,  or  the  desire 
to  serve  others  from  love  to  the  Lord  and  the  neighbor, 
their  ruling  principle  of  action.  To  this  exalted  state, 
therefore,  will  they  aspire.  For  this  they  will  long ;  for 
this  they  will  labor ;  for  this  they  will  pray. 

And  fully  conscious  that  they  cannot  attain  to  this 
state  of  right  desire  and  feeling,  as  well  as  of  right  living, 
by  their  own  unaided  strength,  they  will  be  led  to  look 
beseechingly  to,  and  humbly  to  acknowledge  their  de- 
pendence upon  Him  who  hath  all  power  in  heaven  and  on 
earth;  and  who  has  said,  "Without  me,  ye  can  do 
nothing.' ' 


XIII. 

HOW  TO  ESCAPE  HELL. 

WE  have  seen  that  hell,  according  to  the  New 
Theology,  is  not  a  place  to  which  a  certain 
class  of  people  are  at  last  sent  against  their  will,  as  dis- 
orderly people  in  this  world  are  sent  to  the  lock-up,  or 
criminals  to  the  penitentiary;  but  that  it  is  a  state  or 
quality  of  life  which  each  one  freely  chooses,  and  which  he 
strengthens  or  confirms  by  habit.  It  is  a  low  condition 
of  humanity — a  disorderly  or  inverted  condition — one 
in  which  the  higher  part  of  our  nature  is  in  absolute 
subjection  to  the  lower,  the  human  to  the  bestial,  the  an- 
gelic to  the  infernal.  It  is  not  a  state  of  unmitigated 
misery  ;  for  every  kind  of  love,  as  we  have  seen,  has  its 
delights.  The  more  unselfish  is  the  love  that  we  develop 
and  strengthen — the  more  it  is  like  God's  own  love,  so 
much  the  sweeter  and  more  heavenly  is  the  delight  felt 
in  its  exercise,  and  so  much  the  purer  and  more  exalted 
our  happiness ;  but  the  more  unlike  we  are  to  God  in 
character,  feeling  and  purpose — the  more  supremely  sel- 
fish we  grow  to  be,  and  the  more  indifferent  to  the  wants 
and  woes  and  welfare  of  others,  the  lower  is  the  form  of 
17  N  193 


194  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

life  or  quality  of  love  developed  in  the  soul,  and  the 
nearer,  therefore,  does  the  delight  experienced  in  its  ex- 
ercise, approach  to  the  delights  of  some  of  the  brute 
creation — to  the  delights  of  serpents,  tigers,  dogs  and 
swine. 

In  the  natural  world  nothing  is  positively  evil  perse. 
All  things  are  good  and  useful  in  their  proper  places. 
The  ordure  from  our  barns  and  stables,  the  filth  and 
refuse  of  our  filthiest  cities,  the  droppings  of  wild  or 
domestic  fowls,  and  even  the  dead  and  decomposing 
bodies  of  animals — offensive  and  hateful  as  all  such  things 
are  when  out  of  place,  in  our  parlors  or  libraries — are  ex- 
cellent in  the  field  or  garden ;  and  in  the  hands  of  the 
skillful  florist  or  agriculturist,  may  be  turned  to  profitable 
account. 

So,  too,  all  the  implanted  instincts  and  proclivities  of 
our  natural  humanity,  including  even  the  love  of  self 
with  all  its  numerous  offspring,  are  not  wrong  or  sinful 
per  se.  They  are  all  of  them  gifts  of  God,  and  in  their 
proper  place  are  good  and  useful.  But  what  is  their 
proper  place?  Not  that  of  rulers,  but  of  servants. 
Dogs  and  horses  would  make  poor  masters ;  but  as  ser- 
vants subject  to  man's  direction  and  control,  they  are 
very  useful.  In  the  order  of  man's  creation,  the  body 
comes  first.  Next  the  bodily  senses  are  developed ; 
then  the  lower  parts  of  the  mind — those  lying  nearest 
the  body — the  selfish  and  sensual  propensities ;  then  the 
knowing  and  intellectual  faculties ;  then  the  rational  and 


HOW  TO  ESCAPE  IT  195 

religious.  And  the  highest  or  God-like  part  of  his  na- 
ture— the  spiritual  and  truly  human — the  angel  (for  tnis 
is  "  the  measure  of  a  man,"  Rev.  xxi.  17)  is  unfolded  last 
of  all.  But  this  takes  place  only  when  the  man  is  "  born 
from  above/ '  or  created  anew  in  the  image  of  his  Maker. 
In  this  case,  none  of  the  passions  or  propensities  of  the 
natural  man  are  destroyed,  but  simply  brought  under  sub- 
jection to  the  spiritual  and  more  regal  part  of  his  nature 
— to  the  true  and  heaven-born  man.  In  due  subjection 
and  subordination  to  the  divine  human  love,  everything 
belonging  to  the  natural  man  is  good  and  useful. 

This  is  plainly  taught  in  the  spiritual  sense  of  the  very 
first  chapter  of  the  Bible;  in  which  sense  this  chapter 
treats  of  a  spiritual  creation,  that  is,  of  the  normal  devel- 
opment of  the  human  soul  from  its  natural,  dark,  chaotic 
state,  into  one  of  heavenly  order  and  life — into  the  image 
and  likeness  of  God  himself.  Note  the  order  in  this 
creation.  First,  we  have  the  earth  without  form,  and 
void, — and  darkness  brooding  over  it.  Then  comes  the 
grass,  and  the  herb  yielding  seed,  and  the  fruit-tree  yield- 
ing fruit.  Then  the  fishes  and  the  fowls — the  "living 
creatures  which  the  waters  brought  forth  abundantly  after 
their  kind,  and  every  winged  fowl  after  his  kind."  Then 
"the  beast  of  the  earth  after  his  kind,  and  cattle  after 
their  kind,  and  everything  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth 
after  his  kind."  And  last  of  all  the  man — a  living  soul 
— created  in  the  image  and  likeness  of  his  Maker. 

"So  God  created    man    in   his   own   image;    in  the 


196  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

image  of  God  created  He  him ;  male  and  female  created 
He  them. 

"And  God  blessed  them;  and  God  said  unto  them, 
Be  fruitful,  and  multiply,  and  replenish  the  earth  and 
subdue  it ;  and  have  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea, 
and  over  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  over  every  living  thing 
that  moveth  upon  the  earth.  .  .  . 

"And  God  saw  everything  that  He  had  made;  and 
behold  it  was  very  good." 

When  truth  in  the  understanding  becomes  firmly 
wedded  to  love  in  the  will,  or  in  other  words,  when  the 
great  law  of  unselfish  love  (which  is  the  properly  human 
life)  comes  to  re;^n  throughout  the  soul,  having  complete 
dominion  over  all  the  feelings,  inclinations  and  thoughts 
of  the  natural  mind,  then  the  true  man  is  created — the 
properly  human  understanding  and  will.  "Male  and 
female  created  He  them,  and  called  their  name  Adam," 
that  is,  man.  And  when  this  is  the  case — when  all  the 
instincts,  feelings,  thoughts  and  propensities  of  the  nat- 
ural man  are  brought  under  perfect  subjection  to  the 
great  law  of  love,  then  everything  is  seen  to  be  "very 
good."  The  inclinations  of  the  natural  man  are  evil 
only  when  they  are  allowed  to  rule.  In  a  state  of  proper 
subordination  and  subserviency  to  the  celestial  principle 
— the  truly  human — they  all  are  very  good. 

But  this  exalted  and  heavenly  state,  when  the  soul  is 
so  filled  and  pervaded  by  the  Divine  spirit  that  it  may 
truly  be  said  to  be  created  "in  the  image  of  God," 


HOW  TO  ESCAPE   IT  197 

cannot  be  suddenly  attained.  Many  previous  states  must 
be  passed  through — states  of  inward  labor,  and  conflict 
with  the  foes  of  "our  own  household."  These  states, 
however,  are  all  indispensable  to  the  final  evolution  or 
creation  of  the  man;  and  are  what  is  meant  in  the  spir- 
itual sense  by  the  six  days  of  creation  spoken  of  in  Gen- 
esis.    Accordingly  Swedenborg  says : 

"During  regeneration  the  cupidities  and  falsities  [of 
the  natural  man]  cannot  be  instantly  removed ;  for  that 
would  be  to  destroy  the  whole  man,  seeing  that  the  life 
of  these  is  the  only  life  he  has  yet  acquired.  Therefore 
evil  spirits  are  permitted  to  continue  with  him  for  some 
time,  that  they  may  excite  his  cupidities.  .  .  .  And  un- 
less the  Lord  defended  man  every  moment,  yea,  even 
the  smallest  part  of  a  moment,  he  would  instantly  perish 
in  consequence  of  the  indescribably  intense  and  mortal 
hatred  which  prevails  in  the  world  of  spirits  against  the 
things  relating  to  love  and  faith  toward  the  Lord. 

"  The  times  and  states  of  man's  regeneration  in  gen- 
eral and  in  particular,  are  divided  into  six,  and  are  called 
the  days  of  his  creation.  For  by  degrees  he  is  elevated 
out  of  a  state  in  which  he  possesses  none  of  the  qualities 
which  properly  constitute  a  man,  until  by  little  and  little 
he  attains  to  the  sixth  day,  in  which  he  becomes  an 
image  of  God. 

"During  this  period  the  Lord  fights  continually  for 
him  against  evils  and  falsities,  and  by  means  of  [these 
internal  and  spiritual]  conflicts  confirms  him  in  the  true 
17* 


19S  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

and  the  good.  The  time  of  the  warfare  is  the  time  of 
the  Lord's  operation;  therefore  a  regenerate  person  is 
called  by  the  prophets,  the  work  of  God' s  fingers.  And 
he  does  not  rest  until  love  becomes  his  ruling  principle ; 
then  the  conflict  ceases.  When  the  work  has  so  far  pro- 
gressed that  faith  is  united  to  love,  it  is  then  called  very 
good ;  for  the  Lord  then  treats  him  as  a  likeness  of  him- 
self. At  the  end  of  the  sixth  day  the  evil  spirits  depart, 
and  the  good  ones  draw  near." — Arcana  Ccelestia,  59-63. 

Then  comes  the  sabbath  of  the  soul ; — that  state  of 
inward  peace  and  rest  which  resembles  the  sweet  and 
serene  peace  of  heaven ; — a  state  in  which  the  natural 
man  yields  a  perfect  and  cheerful  submission  to  the 
spiritual,  or  what  is  the  same,  to  the  will  of  the  Heav- 
enly Father,     Of  this  state,  Swedenborg  speaks  thus  : 

"  What  the  tranquillity  of  peace  of  the  external  man  is, 
on  the  cessation  of  conflict,  or  when  he  is  no  longer  dis- 
turbed by  evil  desires  and  false  persuasions,  can  be  known 
only  to  one  who  is  acquainted  with  the  state  of  peace. 
So  delightful  is  this  state  as  to  exceed  every  conception 
of  delight.  Not  only  is  it  a  cessation  of  conflict,  but  life 
proceeding  from  an  interior  peace,  and  affecting  the  ex- 
ternal man  in  a  manner  that  cannot  be  described.' ' — 
Ibid.  92. 

What  it  is,  according  to  the  New  Theology,  to  escape 
hell,  must  by  this  time  be  obvious.  It  is  to  escape,  or 
rise  out  of,  that  low  state  in  which  the  selfish  propen- 
sities of  the  natural  man — pride,  avarice,  ambition,  love 


HOW  TO  ESCAPE   IT  1 99 

of  ease  or  pleasure,  lust  of  power  or  glory — have  com- 
plete dominion  in  the  heart,  and  to  come  into  that  ex- 
alted and  truly  human  state  in  which  love  to  the  Lord  and 
neighbor  have  supreme  control.  And  this  is  something 
which  cannot  be  suddenly  accomplished.  It  is  a  life-long 
work. 

And  how  shall  we  do  it?  How  is  the  spiritual  to  gain 
the  ascendency  over  the  natural  man  ?  How,  from  loving 
self  and  the  world  supremely,  shall  we  be  brought  into  a 
state  to  love  the  Lord  above  all  else,  and  our  neighbor 
as  ourselves?  For  to  undergo  this  change,  is  to  be  lifted 
out  of  a  hellish  into  a  heavenly  state.  In  other  words, 
it  is  to  escape  hell,  and  enter  upon  the  state  denoted  by 
heaven.  It  is  to  experience  such  an  inward  renewal  or 
change  of  character,  that  when  we  enter  the  other  world 
we  shall  loathe  and  shun  the  society  of  devils,  and  be 
drawn  by  the  force  of  spiritual  attraction  to  that  of  the 
angels. 

How  to  do  this,  is  the  question  of  questions.  Yet  the 
Lord  has  pointed  out  the  way,  and  made  it  very  plain  to 
all  who  are  willing  to  walk  in  it.  He  says :  "If  thou 
wilt  enter  into  life,  keep  the  commandments.' '  But  this, 
on  account  of  our  hereditary  selfishness,  requires  the 
practice  of  much  self-denial,  and  the  endurance  of  many 
inward  conflicts  with  the  foes  of  our  own  household. 
The  cross  is  the  symbol  of  these  conflicts ;  and  engaging 
in  them,  therefore,  is  what  is  meant  in  the  spiritual  sense 
by  "  taking  up  the  cross."     Hence  the  Lord  says  : 


200  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

"If  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  him- 
self,  and  take  up  his  cross,  and  follow  me.  For  whoso- 
ever will  save  his  life,  shall  lose  it ;  and  whosoever  will 
lose  his  life  for  my  sake,  shall  find  it." 

Our  true  life  is  the  heavenly  life — the  life  of  pure  unsel- 
fish love — the  Lord's  own  life  in  us,  yet  perceived  as  ours. 
Vftjind  or  receive  this  life,  only  as  we  overcome  or  lose 
our  hereditary  selfish  life  for  the  Lord's  sake ;  and  this 
we  can  do  only  by  denying  to  our  natural  and  inordinate 
love  of  self  the  gratification  which  it  craves,  and  en- 
gaging in  many  a  fierce  conflict  with  the  evil  inclinations 
which  spring  from  that  love.  This  is  the  way  the  Lord 
himself  overcame  the  evil  in  his  assumed  humanity,  and 
made  that  humanity  Divine.  And  we,  if  we  would  fol- 
low Him,  or  come  into  full  sympathy  and  spiritual  union 
with  Him  (and  without  this  there  is  no  heaven  for  us), 
must  do  the  same.  That  is,  we  must  deny  self,  and  take 
up  our  cross. 

11  Keep  the  commandments,"  was  the  blessed  Saviour's 
answer  to  the  young  man  who  "came  and  said  unto 
Him,  Good  Master,  what  good  thing  shall  I  do  that  I 
may  have  eternal  life?"  And  to  every  inquirer  in  every 
age,  He  returns  the  self-same  answer.  And  He  goes 
further  and  specifies  the  commandments  that  are  to  be 
kept:  "  Thou  shalt  do  no  murder  :  Thou  shalt  not  com- 
mit adultery :  Thou  shalt  not  steal :  Thou  shalt  not  bear 
false  witness :  Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother ;  And 
thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 


HOW  TO  ESCAPE  IT  201 

Now  the  commandments  may  be  kept — in  the  letter, 
at  least — by  one  in  whom  there  is  no  acknowledgment  of 
the  Lord,  and  no  sense  of  dependence  on  Him.  A  man 
may  refrain  from  falsehood,  theft,  adultery,  murder,  etc., 
from  purely  selfish  and  worldly  considerations; — from 
fear  of  the  law,  or  of  losing  his  property  or  reputation, 
or  from  hope  of  winning  the  good  esteem  of  others. 
He  may  keep  all  the  commandments  of  the  Decalogue, 
in  the  outward  form,  with  a  heart  brim  full  of  pride  and 
self-conceit.  He  may  do  it  in  the  spirit  of  the  self- 
righteous  Pharisee,  who  thanked  God  that  he  was  so 
much  better  than  other  men.  Those  who  keep  the  com- 
mandments in  this  spirit,  are  deficient  in  one  essential 
qualification  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  They  lack 
humility.  They  lack  a  sense  of  utter  dependence  on 
the  Lord  for  whatever  good  they  do,  or  whatever  power 
they  have  to  shun  evil.  They  abound  in  self-righteous- 
ness. All  the  good  they  do,  they  regard  as  their  own, 
and  claim  merit  on  account  of  it.  Some  of  this  class 
have  "great  possession s" — large  investments  in  merito- 
rious deeds. 

This  was  the  spirit  in  which  that  young  man  had  kept 
the  commandments.  "All  these  things,' '  he  says,  "  have 
I  kept  from  my  youth  up:  What  lack  I  yet?"  And 
what  was  the  Lord's  answer?  "If  thou  wilt  be  perfect, 
go  and  sell  that  thou  hast  and  give  to  the  poor,  and  thou 
shalt  have  treasure  in  heaven ;  and  come  follow  me.    But 


202  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

when  the  young  man  heard  that  saying,  he  went  away 
sorrowful ;  for  he  had  great  possessions. ' ' 

We  may  keep  the  commandments,  then,  or  shun  the 
deeds  which  they  forbid,  yet  in  such  a  proud  spirit  or 
from  such  selfish  motives,  that  we  shall  not  be  shunning 
hell  at  the  same  time.  We  may  shun  fraud,  falsehood, 
theft,  adultery,  etc.,  merely  from  fear  of  the  law,  or  of 
some  personal  or  worldly  loss.  In  that  case  we  shun  the 
evil  from  prudential  considerations,  not  because  it  is 
wrong  or  sinful  in  itself;  and  this  is  not  really  shunning 
the  evil  at  all. 

If,  therefore,  we  would  shun  hell,  we  must  keep  the 
commandments  from  a  religious  ground.  We  must  re- 
gard the  evils  which  they  forbid,  as  sins  against  God, 
and  shun  them  because  they  are  sins.  If  our  self-love 
prompts  us  to  deceive  or  defraud  our  neighbor,  or  to 
take  any  undue  advantage  of  his  weakness  or  ignorance, 
or  to  injure  him  in  any  way,  we  must  regard  and  shun 
the  doing  of  such  wrong  as  a  sin.  If  we  are  in  the  habit 
of  using  profane  language — of  taking  the  Lord's  name  in 
vain — we  must  regard  and  shun  this  habit,  not  merely 
because  it  is  ungentlemanly  or  disreputable,  but  because 
it  is  sinful.  If  we  are  inclined  to  deprive  another,  with- 
out his  knowledge  or  consent,  of  anything  that  justly  be- 
longs to  him — be  it  honor,  property,  reputation,  social 
position,  political  or  religious  influence — we  must  regard 
and  shun  such  robbery  as  a  sin.  If  we  are  inclined  to 
speak  evil  of  others,  to  slander  them — which  is  a  kind  of 


HOW  TO  ESCAPE  IT.  203 

jmoral  murder,  for  it  is  stabbing  one  in  the  dark — we 
must  inwardly  acknowledge  the  sinfulness  of  this  before 
God,  and  shun  it  because  it  is  a  sin.  If  we  are  inclined 
to  invade  the  freedom  and  trample  on  the  rights  of 
others,  to  domineer  over  them — over  our  families,  our 
children,  our  brethren,  our  domestics,  our  employe's — to 
compel  them  to  do  our  will  and  gratify  our  wishes,  to 
their  own  injury,  loss,  or  discomfort,  we  must  regard 
such  disposition  as  sinful,  and  shun  its  indulgence  as  a 
sin. 

And  so  with  every  inclination  which  originates  in  the 
love  of  self,  and  whose  indulgence  is  condemned  by  the 
Lord's  commandments,  being  utterly  contrary  to  their 
whole  spirit  and  teaching.  These  inclinations  are  all  of 
them  but  streams  which  flow  from  hell ;  and  their  exist- 
ence and  craving  are  indications  of  the  presence  of  hell 
within  us.  And  it  is  only  when  we  regard  and  shun 
their  indulgence  as  a  sin  against  God,  that  we  are  really 
shunning  hell. 

According  to  the  New  View,  then,  as  herein  unfolded, 
the  way  to  escape  hell  becomes  very  plain.  We  must 
first  have  a  clear  perception  and  a  firm  conviction  of 
what  hell  really  is.  We  must  recognize  it  as  a  state,  and 
must  understand  the  nature  of  that  state.  That  is,  we 
must  know  what  kind  of  life  or  love  belongs  to  it. 

And  the  next  thing  necessary  is,  a  sincere  desire  to  be 
delivered  from  this  state.  And  since  we  have  no  power 
to  deliver  ourselves — for  no  man  can  of  himself  change 


204  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

his  ruling  love — we  must  rely  on  One  who  alone  is  able* 
to  deliver;  we  must  look  to  Him  and  pray  to  Him 
who  hath  "  all  power  in  heaven  and  on  earth.' '  No  one 
ever  was  or  ever  can  be  delivered  from  a  state  of  bond- 
age to  evil  or  the  love  of  self,  without  first  desiring  to  be 
delivered.  And  a  sincere  desire  for  deliverance, 
implies  a  perception  and  acknowledgment  of  the  low 
state  in  which  we  are,  and  from  which  we  seek  to  be 
delivered. 

But  the  desire  alone,  however  intense,  is  not  enough. 
Prayer  for  deliverance,  however  earnest,  is  not  enough. 
Confession  of  our  clearly  discerned  selfishness  and  sin, 
however  penitent,  is  not  enough.  Necessary  as  all  these 
are,  they  are  of  no  avail  without  a  life  of  practical  obedi- 
ence to  the  Divine  precepts.  u  Not  every  one  that  saith 
unto  me,  Lord,  Lord,"  says  the  great  Teacher,  "shall 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  but  he  that  doeth  the 
will  of  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven.' '  We  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,  just  in  the  degree  that  we  enter 
into  that  state  of  love  to  the  Lord  and  the  neighbor, 
which  is  the  essential  thing  in  that  kingdom.  And  we 
enter  that  state  by  keeping  the  commandments,  that  is, 
by  doing  the  heavenly  Father's  will ;  and  a  part  of  this 
consists  in  shunning,  as  sins  against  Him,  the  things 
which  are  contrary  to  his  will. 

To  come  out  of  darkness,  is  to  come  into  light.  To 
escape  sickness,  is  to  enjoy  health.  To  get  rid  of  weak- 
ness, is  the  same  as  coming  into  the  possession  of  strength. 


HOW  TO  ESCAPE  IT.  205 

And  to  escape  hell,  is  to  come  into  the  opposite  kingdom 
— heaven. 

"If  thou  wilt  enter  into  life,  keep  the  command- 
ments.'*  This  is  the  only  way — the  way  pointed  out  by 
God's  own  finger — to  escape  hell  and  reach  heaven. 
"The  commandments "  are  the  laws  of  the  heavenly 
life.  For  all  life  has  its  laws;  and  it  is  only  by  con- 
formity to  these,  that  the  blessings  of  any  kind  of  life  can 
be  enjoyed. 

Take,  for  example,  our  corporeal  life.  This  has  its 
laws ;  and  these  laws  must  be  obeyed  if  we  expect  to  en- 
joy physical  health.  Our  bodies  require  food,  and 
drink,  and  exercise,  and  sleep,  and  pure  air,  and  pro- 
tection from  rain  and  frost.  These  requirements  are 
the  body's  laws — unchangeable,  God-appointed  laws. 
And  in  the  degree  that  they  are  transgressed,  the  body 
suffers.  And  this  suffering  is  the  penalty  with  which 
the  Framer  of  our  bodies  visits  such  transgression.  The 
transgression  and  the  suffering,  the  violation  and  the 
penalty,  are  inseparably  connected,  like  cause  and 
effect. 

And  the  soul,  too,  has  its  laws,  as  well  as  the  body. 
And  these  can  no  more  be  violated  with  impunity,  than 
can  the  laws  which  preside  over  our  physical  organism. 
In  the  violation  of  spiritual  as  in  that  of  physical  laws, 
a  penalty  follows  with  undeviating  certainty; — not  a  pen- 
alty arbitrarily  inflicted,  or  in  the  way  that  human  tri- 
bunals punish  offenders  against  civil  enactments,  but  a 

18 


*s6  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

penalty  linked  with  transgression  as  effects  are  linked 
with  causes. 

But  that  higher  life  of  the  soul  which  those  come  into 
who  escape  hell — the  life  which  we  call  heavenly — the 
life  which  allies  us  to  God  and  the  angels — that  which 
the  Scripture  calls  "  eternal  life,"  whose  very  breath  is 
that  unselfish  love  enjoined  by  the  two  great  command- 
ments—that life  has  to  be  begotten,  formed,  developed, 
born  in  us,  generally  after  the  corporeal  life  has  reached 
maturity.  This  is  the  new  birth — the  birth  into  a  higher, 
even  the  heavenly  state — to  which  our  Lord  has  reference 
when  He  says  :  "  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot 
see  the  kingdom  of  God." 

How  does  this  new  birth  of  the  soul  take  place  ?  or 
how  is  this  higher  life  developed  and  matured  ?  In  the 
same  way  that  art-life,  mechanical  ingenuity,  industrial 
skill,  oratorical  or  mathematical  power,  is  developed  and 
perfected.  Each  follows  as  the  normal  result  of  self- 
compelled  obedience  to  certain  principles  or  laws. 

Ask  those  who  have  attained  a  proud  distinction  as 
poets,  artists,  mechanics,  scholars,  statesmen,  how  they 
won  their  lofty  eminence.  And  they  will  tell  you  that, 
under  God,  they  are  indebted  mainly  to  their  own  per- 
sistent efforts ; — to  their  ceaseless  study,  their  tireless  in- 
dustry, their  resolute  struggles,  their  unflinching  perse- 
verance, their  unremitting  toil.  They  labored  while 
others  lounged.  They  studied  while  others  slept.  They 
were  busy  while  others  were  idle.     They  were  climbing 


HOW  TO  ESCAPE  IT.  20>J 

up  the  mountain  while  others  were  reposing  in  bowers 
of  ease. 

No:  Eminence  in  any  art  or  profession  was  never 
achieved  in  any  other  way  than  through  the  individual's 
own  voluntary  and  persevering  efforts; — through  the 
patient  learning  and  faithful  application  of  the  rules  of 
that  art  or  profession. 

And  so  we  may  say,  men  are  born  into  the  kingdom 
of  heaven — that  is,  born  saints  or  angels,  in  the  same 
way  that  they  are  born  artists,  mechanics,  scholars, 
statesmen.  For  they  inherit  naturally  the  capacity  or 
aptitude  for  each  of  these ;  and  some  have  by  inheritance 
a  larger  capacity  or  aptitude  than  others.  But  they  be- 
come neither  the  one  nor  the  other  without  personal 
effort  and  much  self-imposed  labor ; — without  first  learn- 
ing certain  principles  or  laws,  and  then  reducing  these 
laws  to  practice. 

Take,  for  illustration,  the  accomplished  musician. 
How  has  he  become  such  ?  He  inherited  the  talent  or 
aptitude  for  music,  just  as  we  all  have  inherited  the  capa- 
bility of  becoming  angels.  He  has  the  musical  talent 
while  yet  a  child — but  undeveloped.  And  so  we  may 
say  the  musician  is  there  in  potency.  But  as  yet  he  is  in 
embryo.  The  individual  is  all  unconscious  of  his  latent 
powers; — as  unconscious  of  the  sweet  entrancing  de- 
lights which  the  music  now  wrapped  up  and  hidden  with- 
in him  will  one  day  produce,  as  an  infant  before  birth  is 
unconscious  of  its  yet  latent  capabilities,  or  of  the  joys 


208  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

of  its  post-natal  state.  Properly  speaking,  the  musician 
is  not  yet  born.  He  has  only  an  embryonic  or  latent 
existence  in  that  individual,  like  that  of  the  angel  in  the 
unregenerate  man. 

Observe,  now,  the  manner  of  his  birth, — for  this  will 
illustrate  the  manner  in  which  every  one  who  becomes 
regenerate,  is  born  from  above  and  becomes  a  true  child 
of  God.  It  will  show  us  how  we  are  to  be  brought  out 
of  the  state  in  which  we  love  ourselves  supremely,  into 
the  opposite  state  of  love  to  the  Lord  and  the  neighbor ; 
or  how  "  the  new  man  "  created  in  the  image  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  comes  forth  from  ''the  old  man"  that  is 
"corrupt  according  to  the  deceitful  lusts.' '  In  a  word, 
it  will  show  us  how  hell  is  to  be  escaped  and  heaven 
gained. 

First,  that  individual  places  himself,  or  is  placed, 
under  the  instruction  of  a  Master.  He  becomes  a  pupil 
— a  disciple  or  learner.  He  takes  lessons  of  a  music- 
teacher.  He  acquaints  himself  with  the  rules  of  the  art 
— certain  musical  laws —  and  then  reduces  these  rules  to 
practice.  He  does  not  learn  all  the  rules  at  once,  but 
only  a  few,  and  the  very  simplest  at  first.  When  he  has 
practiced  these  for  a  time,  then  he  learns  other  and  more 
difficult  rules ;  and  straightway  proceeds  to  reduce  these 
also  to  practice. 

Thus  he  goes  on,  learning  and  practicing  the  rules  of 
the  art.  But  he  finds  little  pleasure  in  these  first  lessons. 
He  compels  himself,  however,  to  go  through  with  them. 


HOW  TO  ESCAPE  IT  209 

It  is  all  labor,  task-work,  drudgery,  in  the  outset,  which 
he  performs  reluctantly  and  without  one  thrill  of  delight, 
yet  with  the  hope  of  some  day  becoming  a  musician. 
How  stiff  and  clumsy  his  fingers  are  at  first !  How 
slowly  and  awkwardly  they  hobble  over  the  keys,  like  a 
child  just  beginning  to  walk  !  How  much  more  readily 
they  go  wrong  than  right !  And  he  finds  it  vastly  more 
difficult  to  practice  the  rules,  than  to  commit  them  to 
memory.  But  he  struggles  on,  sometimes  hopeful,  some- 
times discouraged. 

At  last,  by  dint  of  patience  and  perseverance  and 
much  hard  parctice,  the  difficulties  are  all  overcome. 
The  musical  laws  are  incarnated  in  him.  They  flow  out 
from  the  tips  of  his  fingers  the  moment  he  seats  himself 
at  the  instrument.  He  is  now  able  to  render  with  facility 
and  effect  the  most  difficult  compositious  of  Beethoven 
or  Mozart.  And  he  finds,  too,  that  by  practicing,  and 
thereby  learning  to  give  faithful  expression  to,  the  laws 
that  govern  in  the  realm  of  music,  he  becomes  more  and 
more  enamored  with  the  art.  Strange  and  unlooked  for 
raptures  transport  him.  He  is  introduced,  as  it  were, 
into  a  new  world.  Sweet  melodies  are  rippling  all 
around  him.  His  soul  is  flooded  with  the  charms  of 
music.  He  experiences  a  delight  in  executing,  or  in 
listening  to  the  execution  of,  some  grand  composition,  of 
which,  at  the  beginning  of  his  musical  education  he 
could  form  no  conception. 

It  is  in  this  way  that  the  musician  is  born ;  and   in 
18*  O 


2IO  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

no  other.  He  comes  forth,  not  suddenly  nor  in  any  mi- 
raculous manner;  but  slowly,  gradually,  after  years  of 
hard  study,  close  application  and  unremitting  toil. 
The  student  learns  certain  musical  rules  or  laws,  and 
then  compels  himself  to  reduce  those  rules  to  practice. 
And  so  at  last  the  musician  is  produced,  developed, 
formed,  or  born. 

And  the  painter,  sculptor,  architect,  and  mechanic  are 
born  in  the  same  way.  Each  of  these  comes  forth,  gen- 
erally not  until  the  physical  man  has  attained  maturity. 
The  individual  first  makes  himself  acquainted  with  the 
rules  of  the  art,  and  then  learns,  through  patient  and 
protracted  effort,  to  reduce  these  rules  to  practice. 

And  in  a  way  precisely  similar  is  "the  new  man"  or 
angel  born.  In  other  words,  we  are  introduced  or  born 
in  a  similar  manner,  into  a  state  of  supreme  love  to  the 
Lord  and  the  neighbor ; — are  lifted  out  of  that  low  nat- 
ural state,  which  is  hell,  into  that  high  spiritual  state, 
which  is  heaven.  And  this  is  what  is  meant  by  being 
"born  again/ '  "born  of  the  Spirit/'  "born  from 
above,"  and  "born  of  God/'  whereof  the  Bible  speaks. 

The  only  possible  way,  therefore,  of  escaping  the 
hellish  and  attaining  unto  the  heavenly  state,  is,  by  first 
learning  the  laws  of  the  higher  or  heavenly  life,  and  then 
(in  humble  acknowledgment  of  our  utter  and  constant 
dependence  on  the  Lord)  reducing  them  to  practice. 
These  laws  are  all  contained  in  the  Sacred  Scripture,  and 
are  full  of  the  Saviour's  own  life  which  is  love.      Bui 


HOW  TO  ESCAPE  IT.  211 

they  must  be  reduced  to  practice — they  must  be  relig 
iously  obeyed —  they  must  be  made  the  laws  of  our  life, 
before  we  may  hope  to  experience  the  love  and  delight 
that  are  wrapped  up  within  them. 

We  cannot,  of  course,  learn  and  practice  all  these 
laws  at  once.  That  is  not  expected  or  required  of  us. 
But  we  are  to  do  it  by  little  and  little,  just  as  Raphael 
learned  to  paint  and  Mozart  to  play.  And  the  task  of 
learning  the  laws  of  our  higher  life,  or  of  receiving  truths 
into  the  understanding  merely,  is  comparatively  easy. 
Obeying  them — living  them — practicing  them,  in  the 
parlor,  in  the  kitchen,  in  the  office,  in  the  shop,  in  the 
counting-house,  in  the  market-place,  in  the  school-room, 
on  the  farm,  at  the  fire-side,  and  in  legislative  halls — 
everywhere  and  always  conforming  our  dispositions  and 
conduct  to  their  requirements,  and  so  weaving  these  laws 
into  the  very  fabric  of  our  spiritual  being,  and  making 
them,  as  it  were,  a  part  of  ourselves — this  is  the  labo- 
rious and  difficult  part  of  the  work.  And  so  it  is  with 
every  art,  trade  or  profession.  Learning  the  rules  is 
comparatively  easy ;  reducing  them  to  practice,  is  a  task 
of  far  greater  difficulty. 

Hence  we  may  see  why  doing  the  truth  is  so  often 
urged  and  so  strongly  emphasized  in  the  Sacred  Scrip- 
ture. "Blessed  are  they  that  do  his  commandments, 
that  they  may  have  right  to  the  tree  of  life. "  ' ■  Why  call 
ye  me  Lord,  Lord,  and  do  not  the  things  which  I  say?" 
"My  mother  and  my  brethren  are  those  who  hear  the 


212  NEW   VIEW  OF  HELL. 

Word  of  God  arid  do  it."  "Whosoever  heareth  these 
sayings  of  mine  and  doeth  them,  I  will  liken  unto  a  wise 
man  who  built  his  house  upon  a  rock."  But  "whoso- 
ever heareth  and  doeth  them  not,  shall  be  likened  unto 
a  foolish  man  who  built  his  house  upon  the  sand. ' '  Who- 
soever doeth  the  will  of  the  Heavenly  Father,' '  shall 
enter  into  the  Kingdom. 

It  is  impossible,  therefore,  to  escape  hell  and  win 
heaven  through  faith  alone ;  that  is,  by  simply  learning, 
understanding,  and  believing  the  truth.  Only  those  who 
religiously  do  as  the  laws  of  the  heavenly  life  require, 
can  hope  ever  to  attain  unto  that  life,  or  to  have  an  in- 
ward experience  of  its  joys. 

And  the  first  steps  in  the  way  of  obedience,  are,  like 
all  first  steps,  the  most  difficult.  They  have  to  be  taken 
from  a  sense  of  duty — taken  laboriously,  with  an  effort, 
through  self-compulsion,  and  without  one  throb  of  heav- 
enly delight.  They  have  to  be  taken  when  our  natural 
inclinations  urge  us  in  the  opposite  direction.  But  as 
we  go  on  practicing  the  laws  of  the  higher  life,  every 
successive  step  becomes  easier  and  more  delightful.  And 
as  obedience  becomes  more  and  more  the  habit  of  the 
soul,  hell  and  its  delights  recede,  and  the  life  and  joy 
of  heaven  flow  in  with  continually  increasing  fullness. 

No :  not  by  faith  alone,  or  by  a  mere  knowledge  and 
acknowledgment  of  the  truth,  can  a  man  ever  escape 
hell  or  reach  heaven ;  but  by  yielding  a  voluntary, 
though  at  first  a  self-compelled,  obedience  to  the  laws  of 


HOW  TO  ESCAPE  IT  213 

heavenly  life.  Through  obedience  to  these  laws— at  the 
same  time  acknowledging  the  Lord  as  their  source,  and 
the  source  of  all  our  disposition  and  power  to  obey  them 
— the  interiors  of  the  soul  are  opened  toward  heaven, 
and  the  influx  of  hell  is  lessened,  and  the  Lord's  life 
flows  in  with  ever-increasing  power  and  fullness;  pre- 
cisely as,  through  obedience  to  the  laws  of  our  physical 
life,  physical  debility  and  disorder  recede,  and  bodily 
health,  strength  and  elasticity  flow  in. 

We  cannot  love  the  Lord  supremely  and  our  neighbor 
as  ourselves,  by  simply  desiring  or  willing  to  do  so ; — 
no,  nor  by  the  power  of  faith  alone  however  strong,  or 
prayer  however  sincere  and  fervent.  But  this  love  is  sure 
to  flow  into  our  hearts  in  the  degree  that  we  humbly  ac- 
knowledge its  source,  and  compel  ourselves  to  obey  its 
laws.  Shun  falsehood,  fraud,  deceit,  adultery — all  known 
evils — as  sins  against  God,  and  by  degrees  you  will  come 
to  hate  and  loathe  these  vices.  Devote  yourself  re- 
ligiously to  some  useful  calling,  and  you  will  gradually 
grow  into  the  love  of  that  use.  Practice  the  laws  of 
charity,  and  the  life  of  charity  with  its  delights  will  be 
imparted  unto  you  more  and  more.  Obey  the  law  of 
kindness,  and  there  will  be  a  constantly  increasing  influx 
of  the  spirit  of  kindness  into  your  heart.  Do  justly, 
because  such  is  the  will  of  God,  and  you  will  grow  more 
and  more  in  love  with  justice.  In  all  your  dealings  and 
intercourse  with  your  fellow  men,  be  careful  to  obey  the 
laws  of  neighborly  love,  and  to  regard  and  shun  their 


214  NEW  VIEW  OF  HELL. 

infraction  as  a  sin,  and  that  love  with  its  unspeakable 
delights  will  flood  your  soul  more  and  more. 

But  pursue  the  opposite  course — disregard  the  laws  of 
the  soul's  higher  life — violate  the  precepts  of  heavenly- 
charity — trample  on  the  rules  of  love  and  justice  in  your 
intercourse  with  your  fellows,  and  your  soul  will  become 
emptied  of  the  Lord's  life,  and  more  and  more  insensible 
to  its  ineffable  sweetness ;  your  love  of  self  will  grow  con- 
tinually stronger,  and  your  heart  more  and  more  like  the 
nether  mill-stone ;  your  sympathies  will  become  more 
contracted  and  deadened ;  your  sense  of  justice  will  grow 
more  and  more  benumbed ;  your  moral  perceptions  more 
and  more  beclouded ;  your  appreciation  of,  and  your 
aspirations  after,  the  gifts  and  graces  of  heaven,  more 
and  more  feeble ;  and  the  angel  life  in  you  become  more 
and  more  marred  and  crushed,  and  the  demon  life  more 
vigorous  and  flourishing. 

And  thus  will  your  soul,  created  with  the  capacity  of 
endless  progress  in  wisdom,  holiness,  and  love,  and  with 
boundless  capabilities  of  enjoyment,  be  lost  and  ruined. 
Yes — lost  and  ruined;  because,  through  your  voluntary 
neglect  or  infraction  of  the  revealed  and  everlasting  laws 
of  love — the  laws  of  your  soul's  higher  life,  that  life  is 
dwarfed  and  spoiled,  or  fails  to  become  developed  with- 
in you.  Having  chosen  darkness  rather  than  light,  you 
cannot  help  missing  the  glorious  boon  which  you  were 
made  capable  of  attaining — Heaven  and  its  unutterable 
delights.     Verily,  saith  the  Lord  : 


HOW  TO  ESCAPE   IT.  21$ 

"  What  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  shall  gain  the  whole 
world  and  lose  his  own  soul  ?  Or  what  shall  a  man  give 
in  exchange  for  his  soul?" 

The  nature  of  heaven  and  of  hell  is  revealed.  The 
way  of  escape  from  one  and  of  entrance  into  the  other, 
is  made  plain.  The  Lord  ever  watches,  and  waits,  and 
strives  to  draw  all  unto  Himself.  But  He  uses  no  com- 
pulsion. He  cannot  force  one  soul  to  heaven.  He  leaves 
us  all  in  perfect  freedom ;  and  says  to  every  one : . 

"I  have  set  before  you  life  and  death,  blessing  and 
cursing.  Therefore  choose  life,  that  both  thou  and  thy 
seed  may  live : 

"That  thou  mayest  love  the  Lord  thy  God,  that  thou 
mayest  obey  his  voice,  and  that  thou  mayest  cleave  unto 
Him ;  for  He  is  thy  life,  and  the  length  of  thy  days." 

Each  one  is  free  to  choose  for  himself.  He  must  and 
does  choose  for  himself. 

"And  if  it  seem  evil  unto  you  to  serve  the  Lord, 
choose  you  this  day  whom  ye  will  serve/ ' 

^>v  0»  THB        >. 

[UJUVERSIT' 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED  | 

LOAN  DEPT. 

RENEWALS  ONLY— TEL.  NO.  642-3405 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 

Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


SEP    4  1968  l  8 


AUG  30  '68  -1PM 


Tfi 


^*L 


SEP    919740 


**-i*m 


MB 


'  5 


.?- 


pep 


Ci»C 


Rtc.  cm.   DEC     8  m 


JUL  20  1978 


, 


LD  21A-38m-5,'68 
(J401slO)476B 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


YB  28099 


